TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: A majority of the 1,150 representations received by the State government over the proposed Greenfield International Airport at Mopa, at the public hearing on Sunday, opposed the Rs 3,000-crore project.
Nearly 600 of these representations opposed the proposed airport, terming it fabricated and ignoring the rich minerals and natural wealth of the plateau. The State government sought to allay people’s fears and clarified that no additional land would be acquired for airport, apart from the already acquired 81,29,455 sq mtrs.
The public hearing on the Mopa Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report was attended by 1,586 people, including politicians such as BJP MLAs Pramod Sawant, Glen Ticlo, Kiran Kandolkar, former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao, Congressman Ramakant Khalap, besides large numbers of pro and anti-Mopa crusaders.
Government has entrusted the airport’s EIA study to Engineers India Limited, a government of India undertaking at a total cost of Rs 19.70 lakh.
“A total of 1,150 representations have been received with regard to the proposed project, out of which 598 representations have been submitted by Siddharth Karapurkar, that have been signed by several individuals,” the minutes of the public hearing, read.
Karapurkar is member of anti-Mopa group GFDO, which made a strong presentation during the hearing, pointing that the EIA report is misleading and that it should have been drafted by colleges or a university and not by government agencies.
Throughout the public hearing, the designated officer Neela Mohanan (collector, North Goa), tried to deal with public apprehensions on the EIA, stating that the report has been drafted following all Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) prescribed guidelines outlined in its EIA notification 2006.
Extending its full support to the project, the BJP MLAs assured the gathering that the project will bring in employment opportunities to locals and urged government to ensure that the project does not lead to North-South divide in the State and that the project should not be at the cost of the environment.
The convener of Mopa Vimantal Pidit Xetkari Samiti (MVPXS) Sandeep Kambli, while alleging that the EIA report is misleading, questioned the need to have two airports in a small state such as Goa.
The environmentalists who had gathered at Simeche Adven raised concerns that the project is proposed at an eco-sensitive spot. “The guidance manual points out that stress should be given to the location. EIA has not taken the location of the project into consideration. The plateau is located close to the Western Ghats,” said Abhijit Prabhudesai, known social activist and environmentalist.
Prabhudesai said the EIA fails to reflect the impact on Tillari dam. He also pointed that the permission has not been taken from the chief warden of Wild Life Sanctuary Dodamarg, a protected area near the proposed site and that the project proponent has ignored the fact that the site has bauxite ore and 43 perennial springs which support farming, agriculture and fisheries of Chapora and Tiracol rivers.
Environmentalist Ramesh Gawas pointed out to the committee that there are two buffer zones within five and 10 kms radius. “The EIA is false and fabricated as such this public hearing in the absence of authenticated data does not have any standing. The public hearing becomes illegal,” Gawas said.
