Navy has land for golf courses, not for airport expansion: Congress

If the Indian Navy has surplus land to build golf courses, it can certainly offer some land critical for the extension and upgradation of the Dabolim airport, state Congress president Luizinho Faleiro said Monday, adding to the controversy over building a second airport in Goa.

Addressing a press conference here, the newly-appointed state Congress chief said the Indian Navy was being unreasonable in allotting 12.5 acres of land for Goa's only airport.

The land is required for upgradating and increasing passenger handling capacity of Goa's only international airport at Dabolim, 30 km south of Panaji. The airport is operated by the Indian Navy.

"If the Indian Navy can have space for a golf course there, then why can't they allocate more space for extension of the airport," Faleiro said.

Faleiro demanded the state government put on hold efforts to start another airport at Mopa, 50 km from Panaji, and instead upgrade the existing Dabolim airport.

The airport is located on the Indian Navy base INS Hansa, which also has a nine-hole golf course.

Faleiro said he has written to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to direct the Indian Navy to stop stalling the airport upgradation project and allocate surplus land for it at the earliest.

The Mopa airport, on a remote plateau at Goa's northernmost tip, has been the centre of a political row for the past few years, especially after the incumbent government decided to fast track the project, almost creating a north Goa-south Goa divide.

The proposed airport is expected to be constructed and operated on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode and will cater to passenger traffic as well as serve as a cargo hub for the western Indian region.

Faleiro said the new airport would be a white elephant as reports prepared by aviation experts, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, have predicted only a 9.3 million traffic for Goa in the coming years.

"The present capacity of the Dabolim airport is 3.5 million (pax) - 9.3 million is the projected traffic, and with the new airport Goa's handling capacity is expected to be 24 million. Even the experts are saying that two airports for Goa will be unviable," Faleiro said.