Several newspapers including national dailies Times of India, Indian Express and The Hindu, local papers Herald and Navhind Times as well as a web link called daijiworld carried reports about Mopa at the end of May. I have synthesised them to produce the following comprehensive account.
The Mopa airport committee, appointed over two years ago by the Prime Minister, was chaired by chief minister Digambar Kamat on Friday May 30, 2008. It gave its formal approval to the ICAO report of 2007 recommending construction of a greenfield airport at Mopa in North Goa. It also recommended that the Centre review the decision to close down Dabolim airport once Mopa becomes operational. This review is needed in view of the clear assurance by the Prime Minister, in this regard.The decision to close down Dabolim civil enclave was taken by the Union Cabinet on March 29, 2000. The meeting of the committee was held at the residence of the Chief Minister on Friday morning and was attended by the South Goa MP, Mr Francisco Sardinha, the Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Shantaram Naik and the joint secretary of the Union Ministry for Civil Aviation, Mr K N Srivastava, who is also the member secretary of the committee, besides others. The North Goa MP, Mr Shripad Naik had written a letter to the committee about his inability to attend today's meeting. In the absence of chief secretary J P Singh (who is transferred), development commissioner Anand Prakash and Mopa airport director-designate, Mihir Vardhan, who is also the North Goa collector, attended the meeting. Mopa airport, planned on the northern border of Goa, had met stringent opposition by the South Goa politicians including then Member of Parliament and current state PWD minister Churchill Alemao. The anti-Mopa lobby of South Goa hoteliers feared that the new airport would benefit neighbouring Maharashtra more than Goa. Kamat told the media that the report will be presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in mid-June. The Mopa airport with a capacity to handle three million passengers will have a single runway of 3,750 metres to accommodate unrestricted operations of the Boeing 747 jumbo and Airbus 380 super jumbo aircraft. It will require about 2,000 acres of land, the notification for acquisition of which will be issued soon. The Mopa airport project, estimated to cost around $ 205 million, could be fully commissioned, it is hoped "expeditiously", in about 8 (or is it 3?) years time. Sources said that the government will first acquire the required land. An international agency or a consultant will then prepare the international tendering for the project construction. The economics of the project and the final costs will be known only then. The actual tendering may happen six months after completion of various formalities including consultations with the Centre. The ownership patterns and operator options will be covered in the international tendering. Meanwhile, the plans for expanding the existing airport several years ago have met with uncertainty due to incomplete land transfer proceedings from Indian Navy to Airports Authority of India. Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik who is a member of the High Powered Committee stated that Mr Srivastava has been requested to expedite the process of construction of a new terminal building, parallel taxiway and apron for the Dabolim airport, which are delayed due to a related file pending before the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and/or Defence Ministry. Srivastava who is also the member secretary of High Powered Committee has assured that he would expedite the matter, said Naik at the press conference. Despite the planned upgradation of Dabolim, the airport would not be able to cope with traffic beyond 2013, the Canada-based International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had said in its 'Goa Dual Airport Study' prepared for the government of Goa/Union civil aviation ministry. The Mopa committee has expressed concern over a number of residential buildings that have come up within Indian Navy premises at Dabolim. The people living in those buildings are not working at INS Hansa. Mutation cases of Indian Navy land ownsership at Dabolim would also be reviewed. If there are any comments or questions please post them on goanet and I will try to respond to them.
