WE are witnessing a fresh attack on the wisdom of having another airport in the state. This is one of the countless explosions of fire that the proposal of Mopa airport has been greeted with since it was conceived in the late 1990s. As in the previous fulminations, so in the current thunder, reason seems to have taken a back seat and emotion looks like having taken over. Mr Churchill Alemao, MP, the dominant characteristic of whose politics through years has been that devil-may-care chivalry, is up and roaring again against the Apocalypse that Mopa is bound surely to bring to the little and big businesses in the south, rendering thousands unemployed. Let us not go into motivations, political or otherwise, of the fresh protest, but it is clear that it has been timed with the announcement of the decision by the Mopa airport committee to go ahead with the project and the acquiring by the government of 1 crore sq metres of land for it in the states northernmost taluka of Pernem.
Anybody to disagree with Mr Alemao that the state government or the Centre should not take up any project that would take away income and jobs from people in South Goa would but be a cynic. But will the Mopa airport indeed take away jobs from the south to the north? This question can best be answered by another question: did the Dabolim airport take away jobs from the north to the south? Earnings from tourism have come mainly to four cities and their vicinity in the state: Panaji, Mapusa, Margao and Vasco; and two of them are in the north and two in the south. Do passengers getting off at the Dabolim airport do not check in hotels of the north? Do they not travel to the beaches of the north? Last years rise in ARR (Average Room Rate) in hotels was not confined only to South Goa; the hotels in North Goa profited from it too.
When the world is becoming flat, to suggest that Goa can be divided into enclaves is short of saying we do not want development at all. We need to shed our parochial view and grab the opportunities for growth that the present times are offering us. Even in tourism, we are trying, and we will have to try harder, to diversify our products to eco-tourism, pilgrim tourism, adventure tourism, medical tourism, conference tourism and so on. Will Dabolim be able to take in all this growth in tourism?
As it is, the traffic rush at the Dambolim airport has increased manifold over the years, notwithstanding the frequent sallies that the naval authorities stand in the way of night flights. The naval authorities have in fact expanded the civilian use of the Dambolim airport; else, the traffic would not have increased. The naval authorities have said that they could encourage night landings. Yet despite all the expansion that is possible at Dabolim, we cannot hope to make things comfortable for either the travellers or ourselves. At least not with the state fast emerging as one of the favoured international destinations.
From 419 chartered flights at Dabolim in the year 2000-01, we reached 690 flights in 2004-05 . The officials of the states tourism department are confident that it would go to 700-750. As against 1.16 lakh chartered tourists in 2000-01 the number has gone up to 1.58 lakh last season. With the South African tourists also showing keenness, as told to this newspaper by the CEO of South African Tourism, Mr Moeketsi Mosola on Monday, the number of chartered flights would go up considerably. It is worth recalling aftermath tsunami, Goa had attracted tourists who kept away from other destinations.
Growing traffic can only cause clogging. There is already clogging at Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore airports. The waiting time for flights is increasing; the flights are delayed causing hardship to the passengers. The same fate awaits Dambolim. With more and more participation of the private sector in aviation, the rush is going to be unmanageable.
And it is not just tourism. Goa is destined to become a soft industrial state. Nobody cares about agriculture here, neither the farmers, nor the government; so agriculture is vanishing. Big industry has no scope in Goa due to a variety of factors: lack of large spaces, lack of good infrastructure, lack of trained labour and an ecologically-sensitive population. Goa is going to grow in services hospitality, finance, software, telecomwhich are bound to establish connections of thousands of investors, managers and traders from other states and nations to various locations in the state. How will we facilitate their coming and going if we just have one airport? Our choice seems clear: Either we have two airports and help Goa reach the pinnacle of all-round growth, or we continue with one airport and let Goa live merrily in stagnation.
- Forwarded by www.goa-world.com
This first of its kind Gulf-Goans e-newsletter is dedicated to Goans around the Globe. http://www.goa-world.com/ Team, moderated by Almeida Gaspar since 1994 & presented by Ulysses Menezes, owner of http://www.goa-world.com website.
Quote of the Day
The past gives us experience and memories; the present gives us
challenges and opportunities; the future gives us vision and
hope.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
http://www.goa-world.com
http://www.live365.com/stations/61664 Live Konkani Music
http://www.mahableshwar.com/
Addresses:
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL to this page:
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/gulf-goans
| Gulf coast real estate | Gulf shore al real estate | Gulf shores condo |
| Gulf shores real estate | Asian manufacturer | Gulf coast condo |
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
- Visit your group "gulf-goans" on the web.
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
