Tags:
Journalism of Courage
SURAT, Nov 7: The tussle between the State government and the South Gujarat University, over a 160-acre plot of land has taken an interesting turn with city Mayor Bhikhabhai Boghra criticising the government8217;s move to dereserve the land 8220;under the pressure of city8217;s builders8217; lobby8221;.
Talking to Express Newsline, Boghra said, 8220;It is not in the interest of the city or the university to dereserve the land. When the city expands, we will require more land to set up new projects and institutions on the campus. And we don8217;t know what the land requirement will be.8221;
An angry Syndicate member, while rapping the urban development ministry for allegedly colluding with builders, claimed that only the builders8217; lobby some of whom who had already purchased land from farmers at throwaway prices would benefit if the land was dereserved.
The plot in question was reserved by SUDA for the university around 17 years ago. However, some farmers, whose land was included in the plot, moved court and got a stay order against the reservation. The stay, according to Syndicate member Prof Suryakant Shah, was vacated recently, but the university 8220;was kept in the dark by the government8221;. Then the government reportedly decided to dereserve it, a proposal to which the university has reacted sharply.
SUDA chairman Arvind Godiwala, when contacted, denied that the government had dereserved the land, dismissing it as 8220;mere propaganda8221;.
However, he added that Urban Development Minister Parmanand Khakhar was well within his rights to have asked the university authorities about what it intended to do with so much extra land.
The university, according to Godiwala, has 212 acres of land of which only six per cent has been developed; the remaining land has not been unutilised for years. 8220;If the university authorities now want back the 160 acres of land reserved for the university and still in the possession of the farmers why didn8217;t they acquire the land in the past 17 years? What were they waiting for?8221; Godiwala questioned.
Godiwala, however, clarified that Khakar8217;s 8220;attitude was positive8221; and the government had not dereserved the land. The university can acquire the land once the price-committee fixes the rate of the land. Asked whether some builders had really bought the land reserved for the university, Godiwala avoided giving any direct answers by saying that 8220;it was none of his concern.8221;
But a senior BJP leader, on conditions of anonymity, questioned as to how the university proposed to pay for 160-acres of excess land, when it could not develop its existing land for lack of funds. The university, he said, should be told to prepare a plan as to how it is going to develop its land, explain why it could not develop its existing land and what it would do with the 160-acres of land.
A syndicate member, however, disagreed with the BJP leader saying that the university was not developed like a shopping centre or a commercial complex. University is built, considering the future requirements like setting up new building and starting new projects, he added.
