PERNEM
The Mopa Airport Sangharsh Samiti and farmers affected by the Mopa airport project staged a half-day protest in Pernem town on Thursday, demanding benefits from the project.
They later presented a memorandum to Pernem Deputy Collector Ravishankar Nipanikar, listing out 21 demands failing which they have threatened to intensify their protest within 15 days.
Later addressing a gathering at the protest site, Adv. Prasad Shahapurkar insisted that locals should get jobs at the airport and should receive pre-job training.
The speakers also raised concerns about the bypass providing access to Mopa airport, claiming that land acquisition would affect hundreds of locals.
"The government had given a 21-day period for farmers to present their demands. The officials are building the bypass even before that period is over,” said adv. Jitendra Gaonkar.
The deputy collector informed the protestors that demarcation for the road is in progress.
“We are preparing a list of those who have objected to the land acquisition and we shall clarify on their concerns,” said Nipanikar.
Local taxi operator, Sanjay Kole, insisted that local taxi drivers should be given preference at the airport.
Jeet Arolkar challenged authorities to reveal details of how many locals from Pernem taluka would get jobs at the Mopa airport.
Sanjay Barde, Subhash Kerkar, Vinayak Chari, Rajmohan Shetye, Subodh Mahale, Aishwarya Salgaonkar, Yan Gadekar, Rajan Ghate, Shiv Sena leader Jitesh Kamat, Bharat Bagkar, Uday Mahale and Dipesh Naik also spoke at the half-day protest.
