Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji
Panaji, Jan 29: Chief minister Pramod Sawant in a written reply to independent MLA Rohan Khaunte said that 54,176 trees have been cut at the Mopa airport site while 500 have been replanted.
Sawant further informed the house that about 1,500 jobs are expected to be generated once the Mopa airport turns operational. The construction of the airport is in progress and the first phase is expected to be commissioned next year.
The forest department, in August 2018, had granted conditional NOCs for felling the trees. One condition is that the user agency shall plant ten times the number of tree saplings against the actual number of trees felled.
Responding to a question of recruitment by the project proponent, Sawant said that 26 Goans have been directly recruited under GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL) while 479 Goans are working at the constructon site.