Forget Dabolim versus Mopa ~ Just look at what the State is in for...(Herald)

July 13, 2013 TEAM HERALD PANJIM: At the heart of the Mopa-Dabolim debate lies an inherent contradiction. While the proponents quote fantastic figures of air traffic projections to justify the need for Mopa airport the question is: what will be the fate of Goa if these figures are actually achieved? Goa’s current annual air traffic stands at 3.5 million passengers annually including local travellers, tourists both domestic and local and other business visitors and travellers from the surrounding regions who use Goa airport. Currently Goa’s population also stands at 1.5 million. Considering that with a population of approximately 1.5 million, attract 2.6 million tourists annually, half a million of whom are foreigners and we secure travellers of 3.5 million, what would our population need to be to sustain travellers of 28 million a year, the figure that would be considered as necessary to make both airports viable. Extrapolating these figures one can safely assume that to maintain an air traffic of 28 million per year we would need to have a population of 12 million either local or migrant which is eight times Goa’s current population and will have to cater to tourists to the tune of 21 million a year which is ten times our current inflow of tourists. The question that now begs an answer: Is the Mopa airport being conceptualized based on figures that, if met, would mean the destruction of the very character of Goa? Activists and civil society have often pitched that the “carrying capacity” of the State in terms of domestic infrastructure i.e of roads, water supply, sewerage and tourism infrastructure has already been reached and that infrastructure is, in fact, lagging behind the rate at which constructions are rising up in the State. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar during past Assembly sessions has however defended the Mopa airport on grounds that Dabolim is already saturated and that Mopa can be an aviation industry hub. “To the question about how Mopa will survive, the region around Mopa is high agricultural producing area. All the meat products and vegetables that are produced in that area cannot be exported because the Bombay Airport is congested. Mopa can give this facility... and that is the way it can become economical, it is not necessarily only a passenger airport, Parrikar had said on January 30 this year replying to a discussion. Parrikar also said that major aircraft manufacturing companies were seeking to produce aircraft parts and spare parts in India and that can be done in the vicinity of Mopa. "Mopa can be a hub. They are normally looking for places that are near the airport to manufacture parts including carbon fibre (composites). If there is no viability they will not accept the land," Parrikar said, seeking to stress that currently Dabolim, which is not a major cargo airport, will not be able to take the demand of cargo. “More aircraft cannot come to Goa. We will have to restrain air arrivals. The ICAO report submitted in 2007 had suggested that the work on Mopa begin right away in order that it begins by 2013, we are discussing this in 2013 and will have to ensure that it is operational by 2017,” Parrikar had said, adding that the aviation sector had grown so much that Goa reached its targets of 2015 three years ahead of schedule.“By the time it is 2017, the air travellers will reach six million and three million can be handled by Dabolim and three million by Mopa,” Parrikar stated, adding that there would be a longer runway at Mopa that could carry heavier and wider planes. Interestingly, Goa’s passenger air traffic has stagnated at 3.5 million over the last two years suggesting that, in view of the lack of incentives, the State had reached a plateau. Further, a parallel taxiway that was proposed to be built at Dabolim airport which would allow for five times the current number of takeoffs and landings hasn’t been started yet. The taxiway was part of a plan conceptualized along with the new terminal. While the terminal is nearly complete, the taxiway is nowhere in sight. Dr Wilfred de Souza, who was the then deputy chief minister, had with the then Civil Aviation Minister secured the expansion of Dabolim airport to include apron extension and construction of a new terminus, both of which are nearly complete. “At present the AAI is sitting on the file of building the taxiway. Let them have it constructed,” Dr Wilfred de Souza said, adding that in the absence of the taxiway the number of aircraft that can be handled at Dabolim has been reduced to one-fifth of its actual capacity. http://www.heraldgoa.in/News/Main%20Page%20News/Forget-Dabolim-versus-Mopa-Just-look-at-what-the-State-is-in-for/76855.html