The battle over Goa’s airports has flared up again, with Goans for Dabolim Only (GFDO) al leging that the government is quietly preparing to shut civil aviation operations at Dabolim Airport in order to prop up the financially struggling Manohar Inter national Airport at Mopa, operated by the GMR Group. The organisation warned that any attempt to curtail or shut civil aviation operations at Da bolim would trigger strong public resistance. Addressing the media in Margao, Fr Eremito Rebel lo, along with Avinash Tav ares, Jose Maria Miranda, Edwin Pinto and Celso Fer nandes, said it came as “ab solutely no surprise” that Dabolim was being lined up for sacrifice to support what he described as a deeply flawed and com mercially unsound project.
Fr Rebello said that if Dabolim were curtailed or shut for civil aviation, the people of Goa would pay the price through higher costs, massive inconvenience and disrup tion of livelihoods — all to protect the interests of a cor porate entity. He stressed that Dabolim supports a large segment of Goa’s economy and remains a critical lifeline for the State, and cannot be bartered away to compensate for what GFDO termed a “reckless and ill-conceived private venture.” GFDO recalled that it had repeatedly warned both the gov ernment and prospective bidders that the Mopa airport pro ject was fraught with serious structural and financial risks. These concerns, the organisation said, were backed by ex pert reports from the International Civil Aviation Organiza tion (ICAO) and Aéroports de Paris Ingénierie (ADPi), which had earlier flagged feasibility issues. According to GFDO, the mounting financial losses suffered by Mopa airport in the three years since it began operations are a predictable con sequence of GMR’s decision to plunge into what it called a flawed and commercially unsound venture. Fr Rebello said, “The constraints of keeping Mopa Air port competitive vis-à-vis Dabolim Airport have undoubt edly placed severe restrictions on GMR’s ability to levy the high user development fees and tariffs required to recover its massive costs and cover losses. This problem would be conveniently resolved for Mopa if the centrally located and convenient Dabolim Airport were closed for civil aviation, leaving GMR free to impose steep charges on passengers, airlines and businesses — at the direct expense of Goans and visitors alike.” The organisation further alleged that GMR’s interests appeared to be a high priority for a government whose track record, it claimed, has been marked by total dedica tion to the vested interests of favoured corporates, even at significant cost and detriment to the people and the State of Goa. It said vast tracts of land were taken from vulner able villagers and farmers for the airport project, while public funds were poured into extravagant infrastructure, including signature bridges and intrusive highway expan sions that cut through communities and fragile ecosystems — all to provide connectivity to Mopa airport from what it described as a questionable location in the extreme north of Goa. GFDO pointed to repeated assurances by the Chief Min ister and ministers that Dabolim would remain open for civil aviation, stating that those assurances now appear increasingly hollow in light of multiple high-level visits to Delhi to meet the Union Defence Minister, reportedly con cerning Dabolim’s future. Accusing the government of taking the people for a ride, the organisation said its promises were turning out to be nothing more than a “political tiatr” designed to buy time until elections are over. It alleged that the governance model has been exposed as one in which citizens are treat ed as disposable vote banks — useful during elections and ignored immediately thereafter. “Post elections is most likely the time when Dabolim Air port will be sacrificed at the altar of Mopa Airport’s inter ests. Goans must recognise what is happening before it is too late,” GFDO stated. The organisation reiterated that any attempt to curtail or shut civil aviation operations at Dabolim would face strong public resistance.
