DOES GOA NEED 2 AIRPORTS? The citizens of India will surely like to know why I am opposing this airport at Mopa. For this there are tons of the reasons. Firstly, there is no need for another airport in a small state like Goa. The existing airport at Dabolim can cater the needs of Goans as well as domestic and foreign tourists. There is infrastructure in place for landing and takeoff of international chartered flights. So, why is the need for second airport?
Dabolim plateau was seized by the Indian Navy after the liberation. That time the circumstances were different. Today everything has changed. The Navy has a full-fledged naval base just at southern tip of Goa. The Goa Government has generously donated Anjudeva Island (Goa) for their seabird project. The modern naval aircrafts can take-off and land here as they require short runways. So, there is no technical as well as tactical need for them to keep Dabolim plateau also under their control. Shifting of civilian airport to Mopa will have adverse effect on the overall economy of South Goa District. Main suffers will be industrial houses, hotels, taxis, tours operators and most importantly all the businessmen and individuals who will have to travel all the way to the northern tip of Goa just to catch their flight. Utt Niz Goemkar! It's high time that we wakeup. Oppose the new airport at Mopa. Let us fight united with the same approach we fought for Konkani language. Vested political interests have given birth to the second airport which is baptized as "Mopa". We have to kill this Narkasura at its infancy. The Navy has illegally occupied the Dabolim plateau for 44 years in the name of security to our great nation Bharatmata! Well done Men in White, thank you for keep us free from foreign assaults!!! Till date, I remember that during or soon after the 1971 war, at least 4 fishermen were badly injured, when they tried to open a treasure chest which they caught in their nets along the Konkan coast, which turned out to be actually a bomb dropped by the Pakistani military!( Refer Illustrated Weekly). Now, coming back to Mopa, I dont find any "raison d'être" (rationale) behind our Govt.'s decision to choose two extreme places one Mopa and the other Quitula. Why cause inconvenience to Goans by forcing them to travel such long distances just to catch a flight? If they want to develop these areas they can have a Botanical & Zoological Park in Mopa and world largest & best telescope in Quitula! Any better suggestions are always welcome!!! Why not? Here, I wouldn't like to suggest which "Monkeys" should be set loose in Mopa but, I will leave it to the people of my beloved Goa. Our beloved politicians do whatever they want at their whims and fancies. Then "We the People" do what we feel as right. This is true "LOKSHAHI"(Democracy). Baina turned 'Red-light' not so much because of the harbor but, mainly due to military installation located in Dabolim. Slum are neither prevented nor caused due to presence of the military, they are historical monuments created by politicians and builders. Lastly, let us not rejoice after reading the press notes released by anti- Dabolim and pro-Dabolim political groups and the so-called "SAVE DABOLIM SAVE GOA" that are just making mockery of Goans, but gear-up for greater peaceful "Gandhiani" demonstration if Mopa airport is not killed like a Narkasur. I say to our beloved Navy, "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools" [Martin Luther King (Jr)]. Ivo Faleiro, Ex-General Secretary of South Goa District Congress (I) Committee, Margao - Goa. 25th April, 2006. From: Ivo Oscar Faleiro, Margao - Goa. 403601. INDIA. PHONE: 00-91-832-2735790 (Residential) 00-91-9226779988 (Mobile) -------------------------------------------------------------- Read Goanet messages at: http://www.goanet.org/archive.php?name=News&list=goanet _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)