PANAJI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to inaugurate the new international airport at Mopa on Sunday evening after he addresses the valedictory function of the World Ayurveda Congress in the State's capital.
The big news, however, is that it will be christened 'Manohar' International Airport in a deft move by which the government believes it will navigate the controversy over what name to give the airport.
Over the last few weeks, a section has been espousing the cause of naming the airport after Goa's first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar but the State's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been keen to give it the name of Manohar Parrikar.
Both Bandodkar and Parrikar have a legacy appealing to the ruling BJP's loyal constituency.
'Manohar' is clearly inspired by the saffron party's tallest Goa leader but it also means charming or attractive.
Modi, who had laid the foundation stone in 2015, meanwhile, is slated to inaugurate the airport at 5 pm on Sunday after his engagement at the valedictory function of the ongoing World Ayurveda Congress at the Kala Academy complex in the capital.
The first phase of the Mopa airport has been built by the concessionaire GMR Airports Ltd at a cost of Rs 2,870 crore. It is partly powered by a solar power plant, has LED lighting on the runway and several climate sensitive interventions including rain water harvesting measures and recycling facility at the sewerage treatment plant.
Its runway is built to handle the world’s largest aircrafts and there are 14 parking bays along with night parking facility for aircrafts.
The completed phase-I has the capacity of handling over 4 million passengers annually.
The terminal building is designed to give passengers a feel of Goa, replete with Azulejos tiles and a food court with a typical Goan cafe feel and a designated area for a flea market Goan artisans and craftsmen.
Apart from the airport, the prime minister is also scheduled to inaugurate the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), at Dhargalim which he will do virtually from Kala Academy.
Two other institutes -- National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) at Ghaziabad and National Institute of Homoeopathy (NIH), Delhi “ will also be inaugurated by Modi virtually from Kala Academy.
