THIS time the opposition to the land acquisition for the international airport at Mopa has not come from the ‘South Goa hotel lobby’ or the ‘South Goa political lobby’; instead the villagers of three villages in Pernem taluka have questioned the rationale of issuing fresh notification to acquire another 6.69 lakh square meters of land when the Advocate General had assured the High Court that the government would not acquire more land.

What is significant is the villagers are not against the airport at Mopa. They are angry with the style of functioning of the government. It is really sad that even after six years of clearance of construction of the international airport at Mopa the government has yet not been able to acquire sufficient amount of land needed for the project. Recently, Mr Gajendra Haldia, the advisor to the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission directed the state government to acquire some more land. The fact that land is a scare commodity in Goa has been a known matter. Naturally, the planners and policy makers should have worked out a comprehensive land need in the beginning. This nature of phased acquisition is bound to trigger public protest. Apprehensions that Mr Haldia’s directive would create problems for the state have come true. The government should look into the problem and ensure that the anti-Mopa lobby does not exploit the peoples’ sentiments to the disadvantage of the project. Unfortunately, the issue of construction of the international airport at Mopa has been mired in vicious political controversy. Significantly, the Governor, Dr S S Sidhu in his Republic Day speech had emphasised on the usefulness and necessity of airport at Dabolim and at Mopa. The government should act fast as a world class airport infrastructure was critical to the future development of not only tourism but of Goa in totality. It should allow the present controversy to acquire a bigger dimension.