The public hearing of the Mopa airport Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) held on February 1, 2015 has turned out to be a farce. The anti-Mopa group was not allowed to have its say, with the bigger pro-Mopa group using intimidatory tactics to try and silence them. Surprisingly, the Collector of North Goa, Neela Mohanan who conducted the public hearing allowed hooliganism from the pro-Mopa lobby to rule the roost.
The pro-Mopa lobby by the ruling party tried to drown out the speakers from the anti-Mopa group. Shockingly, the police personnel deployed to prevent any untoward incident did nothing to stop this. As one of the anti-Mopa speakers said,’ The public hearing was a sham, with people commenting adversely on the EIA being jeered and booed by supporters (of pro-Mopa) who were brought to the venue by bus loads’. Who hired these buses? Obviously vested interests. The ruling BJP has shown undue interest in the project and makes one wonder why it is so keen to push the same without proper assessment, scrutiny and due diligence? The Mopa airport project was not even in its manifesto for the 2012 Goa assembly elections.
Something is very fishy here. The public need to know who are the persons who have purchased huge tracts of land in the vicinity of Mopa, anticipating windfall gains once the airport comes up. There are indications that members or relatives of BJP and Congress party members are among these. The truth must come out and the culprits exposed.
It is imperative that the EIA be rejected as it has turned out to be a very shoddy job done at the behest of vested interests in the ruling party, and keep the matter in abeyance. A fresh EIA should be called for with terms of reference clearly spelt out. It should be a comprehensive report covering all areas including the rich bio-diversity of the area and the adverse consequences upon it the project comes up. In short, it should be an impartial report drawn up by qualified and experienced persons, whose integrity and honesty is above board.
The CM must act like a statesman and put the project into cold storage. And the whole process started afresh.
