-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Wishing all Goanetters | | a Prosperous | | and | | Happy New Year - 2006 | | Goanet - http://www.goanet.org | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- <Referring to the issue over the proposed Mopa airport, Ms Alva said lot of misunderstanding has cropped up over the airport issue. The ministry of civil aviation has proposed the upgradation plan for the Dabolim airport from Rs 300 crore to Rs 500 crore, she said and added that it has been agreed upon to release extra runway.
Stating that nobody was against the proposed Mopa airport at the moment, Ms Alva said the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh will soon constitute an expert committee for preparing the feasibility report on the proposed airport to take a final decision. The expert committee will have experts from the ministry of I&B, tourism, IT and others and will study the projection of passengers traffic into Goa for next 30 years. The report will be ready within six months, Ms Alva said. To a question, Ms Alva said the state ministers and MLAs have submitted representation to the Prime Minister over the proposed Mopa airport issue after consulting the people over the proposed Mopa airport issue. The earlier techno-feasibility report prepared by the ICAO has not done proper projection of the passenger traffic, considering that Goa has been permanent venue for IFFI, IT habitat and the flow of the foreign tourists.> ---- 1. Compare the Rs 300-500 crore plan with the Rs 1000 crore planned for Mopa. Is a sizeable fraction. Why is it that the Civil Aviation Ministry and Defense Ministry are silent about it? Is Margaret Alva only trying to assuage ruffled feathers by holding out great hopes? 2. What is "release an extra runway" supposed to mean? There is only a single runway at present? 3. What will experts from I&B, tourism, IT and other ministries contribute? Complaints about the inadequacy of Dabolim? Experts from defense and civil aviation would have helped firm up urgent decisions to relax Dabolim's constraints and agree on long term traffic sharing plans. 4. The earlier plans produced by ICAO/ADPI seem to have been based on routine projections of traffic growth. Now INDIA is projecting 20% compound annual growth for the next five years. How will Goa be able to either maintain its share or radically increase absolute numbers if Dabolim is to be closed when Mopa is ready. Both are needed and a meaningful traffic sharing plan is crucial before airport designs are prepared -- in BOTH cases. Before that the Union Cabinet decision of 2000 needs to be revoked without further ado. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Goa - 2005 Santosh Trophy Champions | | | | Support Soccer Activities at the grassroots in our villages | | Vacationing in Goa this year-end - Carry and distribute Soccer Balls | --------------------------------------------------------------------------
