SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Team Herald
vasco: The public hearing on Dabolim airport structure extension was held in Sancoale on Friday. Six participants registered for the same, which had a mix of virtual and in person participation, although the venue had a capacity of hosting 100 people.
As per sources, N Ray Chaudhuri, Ninad Varadkar, Fr Eremito Rebello, Ganesh Gopalan and Savio Correia were the participants that had registered.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) Dabolim Airport Director, Gagan Malik informed that the overall cost of this extension project is Rs 255.69 crores and that the construction of the extension structure is Rs 131 crores.
Some of the participants then presented their views before the South Goa Collector, Ajit Roy at the hearing.
Speaking to the media later, Fr Eremito mentioned that he would like to appreciate the AAI for their steps to expand the Dabolim Airport as it is required.
“I have always felt that this airport should expand and should remain for the people. But I am of the opinion which I put forth during the hearing, that after its expansion, this airport should not go in the hands of Industrialist or private players and should stay with the AAI. I also feel that nobody should object to this expansion as there is no or negligible environmental damage happening due to this project.
Savio added, “For the first time in many years, this non-polluting project has been proposed in Mormugao taluka. For the past several years there have been coal expansion projects in MPT. My purpose to attending this public hearing was not to object or oppose the proposed project, but I pointed out three points. First, is how this public hearing was irregular and not in compliance with the office memorandum of the Ministry of the Environment (MEA) and the EIA notification 2006 and I demanded that the hearing be adjourned and the held on some other day. Secondly, I raised the issue of the total lack of parking facility both in the existing and the proposed airport terminal. The third point raised was about the fresh water requirement, which is around 7 lakh litres of water per day at the airport and how the airport is going to get so much water from PWD when the areas of Mormugao and Vasco are facing acute water shortage issues.
Speaking to the media too later on, the Collector explained that all the recordings of the public hearing on the expansion of the Dabolim Airport terminal, will be submitted to the expert appraisal committee, which would then examine the same and submit their recommendations to the government. The final decision will be taken thereafter.
Airport Director Malik informed that the basic purpose of this extension is that there is rapid growth in the domestic passenger.
“Extension is being done for a very small portion which is 86 metres. We are going to extend just for the reason to make some internal changes in the terminal set up. As we know that the domestic tourists are increasing, so we want our domestic security hold to shift to a larger area and international to be brought to smaller areas,” he said.
He further mentioned that considering the future requirement and growing number of tourists in Goa, they are taking up this extension of the terminal. “We are prepared and are following the process. The approval from MEA is expected by January-end and we will then commence the project. The time limit for this project is 21 months although we will try to complete it by June 2022,” he added.
