NT NETWORK
MARGAO
Goans For Dabolim Only (GFDO), on Tuesday, appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to lay the foundation stone for the Mopa airport, which is sub-judice, till such time the project gets clearance from the court.
Addressing a press conference at Margao, convenor of GFDO Fr Eremito Rebello said that GDFO has written to the Prime Minister highlighting various facts about the controversial airport as the very acquisition of the land for the airport has been challenged in the Supreme Court while there are two cases pending before NGT over environment concern as no scientific studies have been carried out about ecological ramification while the Goa State Bio-diversity Board itself has admitted that it has not carried out any study on the Mopa plateau.
He said that the Prime Minister has been made aware that the underlying reason for “the strange choice of venue of the foundation stone laying ceremony over 30 kms from the actual project is to conceal from you that the Mopa pleateau abuts the Western Ghats and is a biodiversity hotspot.”
He said that the Mopa airport, which is the brainchild of the erstwhile Congress government, and was perceived as a scam by the BJP when it was in the opposition, as various leaders had bought land in the adjoining areas.
He said that the feasibility report states that the Mopa airport would not be able to generate cash flow to sustain the projected capital investment thus making the project economically unviable while expert reports of ICAO and ADPi clearly state that only one airport is the best solution for Goa.
He pointed out that the Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapathi Raju had in the Lok Sabha admitted that a total of Rs 600 crore has been spent on 25 airports across the country while 8 airports have been proposed since 2009 alongside Mopa and constructed in some of the country’s business hubs and that 50 per cent of the airports in the country remained unused throughout the year.