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Goa BJP opposed to airport in state

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

The Goa government's proposal for an international airport is presently hanging fire, thanks to the local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders's attempts to stall it. The BJP move is seen as an attempt to safeguard the interests of neighbouring Maharashtra.

The site at Mopa, situated on the Goa-Maharashtra border along the Konkan belt, was approved in principle two months ago by a joint committee of the civil aviation ministry and the Airport Authority of India.

But local BJP leaders claim that a final decision is yet to be taken, though Goa Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane feels otherwise. "All decisions need not be conveyed in writing," he claims.

It appears that local saffron leaders are planning to stall the proposal of the local Congress government as the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra is also seeking an international airport in the Konkan region in the state.

Considering the extremely short distance between Mopa and three sites proposed by Maharashtra government, there is no way the civil aviation ministry would sanction another international airport along the west coast.

With the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance being trounced in the recent Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra save in the Konkan region, this move from the Goa BJP is looked upon as yet another attempt to consolidate their position in the neighbouring state's coastal region by denying international airport to Goa.

"I am not aware of any airport plans of the Maharashtra government," claims Manohar Parrikar, the BJP legislator. But he also feels that constructing another airport in Goa would be a waste when the existing naval airport could be used to its full capacity with minor adjustments.

"The problem can be solved by shifting the naval traffic to the Sea Bird naval base coming up at Karwar in Karnataka, hardly 50 kilometres from Dabolim," feels Parrikar. The BJP leaders plan to request their central leaders to give a second thought to the proposal of an international airport.

While Parrikar denies that his unit's move is to allow the Maharashtra government's proposal a chance, Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane also hopes that his Maharashtra counterpart will not think narrow-mindedly. "In any case, we get many more tourists than Maharashtra," he points out.

The joint venture project, involving a private enterprise along with the Goa government, is estimated at around Rs 20 billion. Once the approval is sought, the local authorities plan to commission it in two years.

The joint committee that visited the state in March has also noted that the existing Dabolim airport, owned by the Indian navy and part of which is used for civilian purposes, is not large enough to accommodate the increasing number of domestic as well as charter flights.