Lt. Col. SM D'Souza (retd) has chimed in again in HERALD, this time with a full length op-ed page article titled (inaccurately, in my opinion) "Moping over Mopa and Dabolim".
Some quick reactions to his well structured argument: 1. "Navy's presence at Dabolim is needed": A very weak (bordering on pathetic) justification of Dabolim's security purpose. 2. "The Navy can be more magnanimous": A frank admission from a military person that the Navy's dithering over land allotment for civil aviation is unjustified. 3. "The need for Mopa airport in addition to Dabolim": Present traffic is pegged by the author at 1.37 million pax p.a. which is about right, maybe 10% on the lower side. He projects growth to 10 million in 28 years. This works out to about 7% CAGR, the standard global rate used for aviation industry growth. Further he says, "even 18 years from now, Dabolim will handle 3 million passengers p.a." According to recent news reports, southern India is expected to witness 20-30% traffic growth p.a. over the next few years. At just 19-25% the 3 m figure will be reached in only 2 or 3 years (not 18)! The author needs to go back to the drawing boards on this factual account. 4. "Why not the twin airport concept for Goa?": Sure, why not? He blames the Government for not educating the people about this. This is only partly correct. See below. 5."Conclusion": He ends saying "Let there be a sense of urgency in our planning and execution of the twin airport complex." Amen. But why is the military sitting on its haunches instead of getting a move on when civil aviation is booming all around? That's the million dollar issue in Goa. Cheers. _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)