When it comes to crucial issues, haunting the State of Goa, the prime political opponent- Congress, always stands divided. After the contentious Regional Plan 2021 controversy that saw Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) divided, the Greenfield International Airport at Mopa is yet another such issue that has created a divide between the North and South Goa Congress leaders.
The PCC, be it under former president John Fernandes or now under Luizinho Faleiro, has always been demanding to scrap the Mopa airport claiming that the project is neither feasible nor viable for the State like Goa.
“Two airports are neither feasible nor economically viable for Goa. This is not only party stand, but studies carried out by expert agencies have proved that two airports are neither viable nor feasible for Goa,” Faleiro had said soon after taking over the charge. In the first executive committee meeting chaired by him, the resolution was also passed by the party demanding to scrap the project.
However, the senior most Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Pratapsing Rane calls Mopa his baby. Rane feels that State needs two airports but not at this point. “Mopa Greenfield international airport is my baby…I had proposed it to the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
And then he added a quick tea spoon of confusion. “However there is no hurry in going ahead with the project, it can very well wait for next two decades,” Rane had said on the floor of the House.
The party divide was wide open on February 1, when senior Congress leader from North Ramakant Khalap batted for the Mopa airport project, during the public hearing called on the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of Mopa airport.
His half an hour speech was in Marathi, wherein he said that people affected should be granted proper compensation as per the Land Acquisition law and that employment generation for local should be the focus of the project.
