Mopa Airport: Full Transparency Essential by Nandkumar Kamat EVERY growing economy needs infrastructural force multipliers. At some stage of development and economic growth it needs to look at the trends and chart its course for the future. Otherwise it would be condemned with stagnation.Goa has maintained one of the highest rates of economic growth in the country for more than a decade. The growth in tourism sector is astounding. The tiny state of Goa earns 22 per cent of the countrys foreign exchange or on an average annually Rs 2,500 crore from tourism. So, for the central government, development of tourism related world class infrastructure in Goa would be a guaranteed money spinner. The tourism industry would maintain its tempo if the transportation and sanitation infrastructure is improved. Goa inherited a grossly underdeveloped transportation infrastructure from the Portuguese. After liberation there was rapid development of the roads, the inland waterways and the Mormugao international harbour. But it took three decades for getting a broad gauge railway track and a considerable effort to complete the environmentally unsound realignment of the Konkan Railway. There was a centrally sponsored scheme to build a world class fishing harbour but it met with stiff opposition by the people who were satisfied with the status quo. How does Goa propose to strengthen its transportation infrastructure to support the industrial and economic growth and the import and export of goods and services? There is still no state transportation policy. There is no progress over the plan scheme of inter-modular transportation network. After some initial enthusiasm, there is absolute neglect of the inland waterways -- the lifeline of minerals-based economy. The government has admitted that the specifications of the so called national and state highways are not up to the mark. However the goods and passenger traffic has shown a phenomenal increase. Traffic congestion in the main cities, Panaji, Mapusa, Margao and Ponda demonstrates the total collapse of the inadequate infrastructure. There is meagre government investment in the improvement of public transportation. I wish the state government could invite Mr Jaime Lerner, ex-mayor of Curitaba, worlds best managed city in a Portuguese speaking country-Brazil, to learn how urban transportation is efficiently planned and managed. A visit to Curitaba, Brazil, would open the eyes of our politicians. Infrastructural planning needs imagination and innovation. It has to be transparent. But this is not the case when a mega-project like the proposed Mopa international airport is under consideration. The government entrusted the work of preparing the techno-economic feasibility report to the Canada-based International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). ICAO also brought in Airport de Paris International (ADPI) to assist it in their work. It gave a technical presentation to the steering committee in July 2005. This was followed by an economic feasibility report in August 2005 which the government discussed and accepted in September 2005. Then the movement began to finalise the tender documents. In October 2005, the ICAO team met the civil aviation secretary in New Delhi. The global tenders for inviting _expression of interest were supposed to be floated in December 2005-January 2006 but apparently the decision has been withheld in view of the constitution of the committee on Janauary 27, 2006, by the civil aviation ministry on Mopa airport under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Pratapsingh Rane. The committee has peoples representatives therefore they need to first disclose the details of technical and economic feasibility reports. The ICAO-ADPI reports need to be made public because most of the controversies take place due to lack of transparency and the veil of unwanted secrecy. There is still no news about the commissioning of the environmental impact assessment, which is a massive time consuming task. All that is selectively disclosed to the media is a land requirement of 54 lakh square metre, an airport design with a single runaway and taxiways, projected traffic of 10 million passengers by AD 2035 , expenditure of $ 200 million with state-central equity participation of 26 per cent. There is absolutely no suggestion regarding a rehabilitation policy or a rehabilitation plan for the people to be displaced from the project. If the newly appointed panel sits behind closed doors and then takes a decision then it would not be acceptable to the people. The government must table the copies of the ICAO reports on the floor of the assembly when it meets on February 13. The consultants have been paid handsomely from the public funds so the reports are public documents and not military secrets. The Mopa airport is civil international airport and it would get broad support if the government adopts a fully pro-people and transparent policy at every level of decision making. The basic concerns of the people are economic. How is the government going to ensure that the livelihood of people directly and indirectly dependent upon the Dabolim airport is protected and at the same time guaranteed economic and employment opportunities are created in Pernem taluka in particular without paying high social costs? The consultants must have left this sensitive question to the government because they would not like to join the political debate. Under WTO commitments powerful international role players are likely to monopolise the airport related services anywhere in India, with or without Indian equity participation. But really what sort of people benefit from any new international airport at various stages -- from construction to commissioning? Whats the experience of Cochin international airport in Kerala? Are there any positive lessons to be learnt from this novel venture? How the proposed Mopa international airport is going to be different in equity structure, design, operations and management than the Cochin international airport? Then there is the question of technological revolution. It would be naive to suppose that passengers landing at airports in future would be using only the road transport to commute to their local destinations. Cheap light air taxis/ helicopter services would be available and these would be aggressively introduced by the powerful multinational operators. Would the state government then oppose such operations? Local people would be worried about their entitlement, their benefit from a new airport. If they discover later that theyve been cheated then it would lead to massive social unrest. Politicians seldom disclose all their cards. Their real interests are often hidden. Goa may be divided over Mopa but people can be united over the demand of full transparency. First let the legislative assembly get all the techno-economic details. Then let the government submit the copies of the ICAO report to all the village panchayats in Pernem taluka and send representatives to the gram sabhas to explain ICAO findings. Public participation in planning mega-projects is more important than consultants expensive reports. We need full transparency over each stage of proposed Mopa international airport. http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=020639
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