-----Original Message-----
From: preservegoa <
preserve...@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 May 2012 15:09:05
To: arwinmesquita<
arwinmesqu...@gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: mopa
hi arwin,press con of mopa people
regards
sidharth
MOPA VIMANTALL PIDITT XETKARI SAMITI
H. No 236, SHIMECHEA ADVAN - VARKHAND
PEDNEM GOA
Date: 9/7/2010
PRESS NOTE--------
The villagers of Mopa and neighbouring villages of Pernem Taluka in Goa totally
oppose the proposed construction of an International Airport on our lands. This
arbitrary decision of the State Government, which was accepted by the Union
Government without necessary review or study, threatens thousands of farming
families with total displacement by the ongoing acquisitions. Pernem continues
to be a feudal region even today, with most lands vesting with a few landlords
(many of which have been quietly sold to the rich and powerful), with the
locals often being termed as encroachers or nomads. We reiterate our demand
that the land rights of the Pernem residents, which were promised more than 35
years ago on Tillers' Day, be granted first, before the government considers
any diversion of our lands for non-agriucultural purpose, failing which
thousands of residents of Pernem taluka will be socially, physically and
economically displaced.
The fact is that a greeenfield airport can make or break the economy of a
region on account of the high capital and running costs involved, and the
impact on the land use, various economic sectors and infrastructure demands.
The new Airport at Mopa is absolutely unnecessary and threatens to reverse the
socio-economic development that our State has witnessed over the past few
decades, which would be a disaster for the State. We are aware that the
decision that Goa needs two airports was taken by the government in 1995,
without any studies, and this arbitrary decision is blindly driving the
project, as all of the subsequent studies have been carried out without
questioning whether a second airport is needed in the first place.
“It appears clear that the Decision Makers must recognize the fact that a dual
airport system is a second best solution only, compared to single airport
system to serve a relatively small air transportation market such as Goa’s
market”, states the Feasibility Report that International Civil Aviation
Organisation presented to Goa Government in 2008. The report also concludes “a
single airport is the most efficient solution for Goa”. In fact, our review of
the various studies done by Consultants on the feasibility of the Mopa Airport
clearly indicate that for the airport to be viable, Dabolim airport must be
closed down, the National Highway connecting South Goa to Mopa must be upgraded
to six-lanes, and the entire Pernem takuka be used to create artifical economic
drivers such as Ice City, Fun City, Sports City and other large infrastructure.
The feasibilty studies also assume that the number of air passengers to and
from Goa is going to increase rapidly. However, during the past few years the
figures of passengers have dropped significantly rather than growing as
antiicipated, making the studies totally baseless and misleading.
We have studied the sale of lands in Pernem taluka since 1995, and know that
the only reason that the government is pushing this ill-conceived and
disastrous project is because a number of rich and powerful people, including
relatives and friends of elected representatives, have bought our lands at
cheap rates. These purchases have been made with the objective to speculate on
these lands, using the Airport project to drive the prices of these lands up.
In a decade, the prices of lands around the airport have gone from fifty rupees
per meter to over three thousand! All of this is happening to lands which were
by law supposed to be handed over to tenants and other occupants, or which are
ecologically sensitive resources of the village, but continue to vest with
feudal landlords even today (unless already sold to speculators). It is well
known that such artifical economic drivers are disastrous to the economy of any
State, and we believe that Mopa Airport, unless shelved, will destroy Goa's
economy irreversibly and permanently, wiping out all the progress made over the
past few decades.
Thanking You
For Mopa Vimantall Piditt Xetkari Samiti
Sandip Kambli ( secretary)
