RailEnquiry

Stating that the State government had given sufficient land to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at Dabolim for their ongoing expansion including parking facility, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, on Wednesday, firmly ruled out giving more land to AAI unless it submits a proper utilisation plan.Speaking on the issue at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, he said that his government had taken a decision to allot “need-based” land to Central agencies in the State, instead of allotting them land as per their whims and fancies.Responding to the issue of parking land for the expanded Dabolim airport, Mr. Parrikar said according to the government, the land given to the AAI of nearly 1 lakh sq m was more than sufficient for all purposes.Referring to the earlier letters of the AAI to the State government seeking land, Mr. Parrikar read out the contents of the past two letters and said that nowhere had they sought additional land for parking facility. What they had sought was land for aeronautical facility, cargo warehouse and fuel farm. He said the government could not give them land for all these facilities at the airport.Maintaining that the parking facility for at least 1,500 vehicles could be easily created at the Dabolim airport, the Chief Minister maintained that there was a parking space for around 550 vehicles just adjacent to the airport as well as additional parking spaces around the airport, which can accommodate more vehicles.

On the contentious issue of demand for re-notifying the denotified land, which was earlier acquired by the erstwhile government for parking facility at the airport and subsequently denotified at the behest of the land owner for the latter to go in for a real estate project, he said: “The question of whether or not to re-notify the land denotified by the previous government arises only when the government gets proper communication from the AAI with detailed utilisation plans.”He also said that buildings had now come up in the said land.

The Chief Minister was not clearly happy with the letter and a note sent by the AAI detailing out its requirement of land for the expansion of Dabolim airport. In its three-page detailed justification sent on April 12, 2013 outlining its plans for Dabolim parking area, it favoured acquisition of about 19.58 acres of land explaining what it intended to do with each parcel of land.

Interestingly, the note listed out the fact that the 9.02 acre de-notified land (Survey No 8/1) was to be used for parking, warehouse, fuel farms, amongst others. What seemed to have upset Mr. Parrikar was that the anti-dual airport groups and activists have been using the letters of AAI to put pressure on the Parrikar government to cancel the de-notification of land on one hand and scrap the proposed Mopa airport proposal on the other.

Mr. Parrikar said his government had decided not to give land for any Central government agency beyond their genuine need. He disclosed that the National Institute of Technology had sought 300 acres of land, which the government had brought down to 120 acres after evaluating their needs.

His government had rejected a demand of land by the Central Industrial Security Force for a township at Pernem and same by the Border Security Force for their camp at Adpoi.

He also criticised the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) management for trying to pursue projects of its economic benefit without taking into consideration Goa’s interest.

As such, he said his government had rejected the proposal of the South Western Railway to lay a double railway track in Goa sector, which was more for the benefit of MPT to have double railway line connecting the port. “We have rejected the proposal and consequently the land allotment for the same as this double-line is not for Goa’s benefit but for the benefit of the privatised coal berths of MPT and the industries which were importing the coal through MPT,” said Mr. Parrikar.

Significantly, early this year, the State Pollution Control Board had stopped the coal operations at some of the berths of the MPT on the grounds of inadequate pollution control measures.

‘Excess land will not be given unless the authority submits a proper utilisation plan’