No land handed over to govt by KIADB for Dharwad IIT, RTI reveals

The wait for an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Karnataka is unlikely to be over anytime soon.

According to a report in The Times of India, response to an RTI query has revealed that the land chosen for the setting up on IIT in Dharwad is industrial and that the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has not handed it over to the government.

507 acres of land in Dharwad belonging to the KIADB were selected to establish the IIT. The RTI dated November 20, 2015, sought response to whether the land had been handed over to the government. The department of industries said that no land has been handed over by them to the government for the IIT.

The RTI also revealed that the land can be used for industrial purpose only according to the KIADM Act of 1966, the report states.

This however is the not the only issue. According to the TOI report, "IIT byelaws do not permit two such institutions within a radius of 200 km and in this case IIT Goa is just 180 km away."

Mohammad Noor, a social activist told TOI, "We along with the Raichur delegation (IIT Horata Samiti) met the chief minister with crucial points which the state and the Centre clearly ignored and violated while choosing the much coveted IIT campus for Karnataka. But the CM said he was helpless in this matter."

The 2002 Dr DM Nanjundappa committee report recommended that the IIT be set up in Raichur and both the Houses of Legislature accepted this report in 2012, adds the report.