TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Cries against the proposed Mopa airport reverberated around Salcete countryside on Sunday with village gram sabhas adopting unanimous resolutions opposing the airport and supporting Dabolim as Goa’s lone international airport.
Reports coming in from Caurvem-Pirla village in Quepem taluka also spoke about the gram sabha opposing the proposed new airport at Mopa.
Resolutions opposing Mopa were unanimously adopted at the gram sabha meetings of the village panchayat of Nuvem, Varca, Ambelim and Loutolim on Sunday.
At Loutolim, members adopted a resolution asking Sarpanch Conceicao alias Concy Fernandes to write to the State government stating villagers opposition to the airport at Mopa. It was also decided to write to the Union aviation minister, local MLA and other authorities. The Sarpanch informed the members that the panchayat had already written a letter to the environment minister as per resolution taken at the earlier gram sabha informing of the opposition to the new airport.
The Varca gram sabha chaired by sarpanch Crosly Charlton Lourenco also adopted a resolution moved by George opposing the airport. The resolution was adopted unanimously.
Similar resolutions were also adopted at the gram sabhas of Nuvem and Ambelim wherein members came out strongly against the airport and demanded that the government retain Dabolim as the State’s lone international airport.
Meanwhile, Goans for Dabolim Only (GFDO) on Sunday asserted that two airports are not feasible in a small State like Goa. It cited the ICAO and ADPI reports that clearly stated that Goa needs 24 million passengers for both the airports to survive. Last year, only 3.5 million passengers travelled to Goa.
Asserting that the proposed Mopa airport will be a private one, GFDO convenor Fr Eremito Rebello said the government is struggling to give jobs to people of Goa. He said Goans will be at the mercy of the private company that will build the airport in terms of jobs just like other factories where government does not play any role in hiring employees.
He cited the instance of the government brining in OLA cabs without thinking of the livelihood of local taxi drivers.
“We are not dividing Goa like the government does. There is no north and south and whole Goa is one. If the existing airport was in Mopa and a new airport was proposed in Dabolim then we would have opposed the proposed new airport as only one airport is feasible”, Fr Rebello said.
“The government is fooling people on the facts of Mopa. If we calculate the distance of Dabolim airport and northern tip of Goa at Terekhol, it is only 40 km (arial distance as the crow flies) and if we check distance from Dabolim and southern tip of Goa i.e. Canacona it is 58 km. This proves that Dabolim is closer to North Goa than South Goa”, he added.
