<What about the Naval base in Cavelossim, in Salcete.? Are they using that base also besides Dabolim?>[Edward Verdes, July 14]
<The naval presence here is neither a base nor an airfield; in the sense that aircraft neither land or take off from here! It is quite a large enclosure with two high towers, rising ugly above the tree top level! It's fenced off for 'safety' reasons only, and served by a road from the main Cavelossim-Margao road. The areas was acquired for the Naval Air to practice straffing and also air /sea rescue missions. Most the year this place is very quiet, as far as any real activity is concerned.Nowadays, they just fly ver once in a while, as if to maintain a claim on the place, only to irritate local people, since this area is in close proximity to a dense residential area. Their aircraft takes off and lands back in Dabolim, whilst they fly these orties, over this 'virgin beach' and prime tourism land! This area is part of the 35 kms of the longest unbroken beach in Goa' in South Goa! Contamination of the soil where they have been straffing using dummy shells, is high;>[Nasci Caldeira, July 14] Now goanet is in business! This is a fine example of idea and information sharing in the common interest of which we need a lot more if any headway is to be made in tackling Goa's complex problems. How come nobody ever mentioned Cavelossim till now? It shows the breathtaking callousness of the military in commandeering prime public property for dubious military purposes. Cavelossim must indeed be considered part and parcel of the Dabolim problem
