TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) on Wednesday allayed fears that work on the Dabolim airport would be stopped since the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has no consent to operate vis-a-vis solid waste management, even as Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik has said that no one should harbour any doubts over the stoppage of work on airport construction.
GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Norohna clarified that the Pollution Board had only issued a notice to the AAI based on a letter received from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests dated March 20 last containing the recommendations of a Parliamentary Standing Committee that all airports should take care of the municipal solid waste. “Based on the letter, our officials inspected the airport and found that AAI had no consent to operate since the consent granted by the Pollution Board in 2008 had expired in November 2011,” Norohna said.
He, however, said that the AAI has now approached the GSPCB seeking renewal for consent to operate, adding that the process is currently underway and the renewal should be granted within a fortnight’s time.
Meanwhile, taking cognisance of a report carried by a vernacular daily, Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik told media persons here on Wednesday that the Dabolim airport will not be shut for non renewal of the consent to operate.
“After reading the newspaper report, I immediately spoke to the Chairman of Goa Pollution Control Board, Jose Manuel Norohna, besides airport officials. There should not be any apprehensions in the minds of anyone regarding the closure of airport,” he said.
