Daijiworld Media Network - Goa (mb)
from special correspondent
Panaji, Jan 11: Quoting International Civil Aviation organization (ICAO) report, Goa government on Friday said that the proposed international airport at Mopa would be a necessity by 2013.
Goa chief minister Digamber Kamat, in a written reply tabled on the floor of the house, however, said that a six-member committee headed by him, constituted to decide on the fate of international airport at Mopa, was yet to take the final call on this matter.
The tourist state has witnessed a controversy over the proposed international airport with leaders like public works department minister Churchill Alemao opposing the airport. He had feared that this airport planned on the Goa-Maharashtra border will benefit the neighbours more than the parent state.
Alemao had demanded that Indian Navy should vacate existing Dabolim airport which will pave way for its expansion. Dabolim airport after expansion can take care of the entire traffic, Alemao had said earlier during press conferences.
When the issue figured on the floor the house on Friday, the state government pointed out to ICAO report, which has studied the possibility of co-existence of Mopa and Dabolim airport.
"During the last three years from 2004 to 2007, the growth has been between 27 to 30 per cent. In view of this high passenger growth, the study considers the question as to whether Dabolim airport would be able to handle the additional capacity of passenger growth in future years," the reply states.
"Noting that Dabolim airport is at present undergoing expansion following additional land of 6.5 acres made available by the Navy and 2.5 acres still to be transferred, besides five acres of land proposed to be acquired by the state government for relocation of residential colony, the study finds that the capacity of Dabolim airport would still be saturated by the year 2013," the report reads.
The chief minister, quoting the ICAO report, said that since the construction of the new airport would take at least five to six years, it would be necessary to start planning the airport without any further delay.