Says the ideal situation would be if Navy moves out
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Wading into the airport debate and stressing the importance of Dabolim’s central location and its importance for tourism, former union minister Eduardo Faleiro has in a statement released here said “the ideal” situation “would be if the Navy shifts from Dabolim.”
Citing a 2003 question he posed to the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, Faleiro said the official reply given to him in the Rajya Sabha was that there was no proposal or representation made to the ministry to have Dabolim handed over to civilian authorities.
Putting that particular onus onto the State government, Faleiro seeks to know “what steps the government” has taken or intends to take to make this plea before the Central government.
The former union minister’s statement assumes significance, coming as it does a day after chief minister Manohar Parrikar lobbed the ball into the Centre’s court, saying it was upto the Central defence minister to release Dabolim land for civilian aviation use.
Dabolim Airport is fully controlled and owned by the Navy and it shuts the airport for civilian air traffic as and when it is required for maintenance or its operations, the statement said.
As Rajya Sabha member, his question in 2003 to the Minister of Civil Aviation confirmed the Navy’s ownership of Dabolim. There were twenty other civilian used airports in India, including Pune and Bangalore that were controlled by the defence authorities.
In 2003, his query to the central minister if any representation had been made to hand over Dabolim to civilian authorities, elicited the reply “there is no such proposal or representation.”
Stressing the importance of Dabolim’s central location and its unique connection to waterways, road and railway networks that ideally serves the tourism dependent economy of South Goa, Faleiro asks what plans the State government has to prevent “the enormous hardship” to the people in case the airport is shifted from Dabolim.
