MOPA
Six years after laying the foundation stone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Goa's second airport at Mopa on Sunday and named it after his 'dear friend' former Defense Minister (late) Manohar Parrikar. The Mopa Greenfield airport is now officially named Monohar International Airport.
In his opening remarks that began in Goa’s official language “ Konkani -- Modi made an emotional speech as he remembered and officially declared naming the international airport after Parrikar.
“I am happy that this international airport at Mopa has been named after my dear friend and Goa’s beloved son Manohar Parrikar,” he said.
The airport will significantly improve air connectivity and further boost Goa’s tourism, he said while maintaining that the first phase will handle 4.4 million passengers and after completion, the four phases of the airport will cater to 13.1 million passengers.
With locals, particularly taxi operators, apprehensive that Mopa’s commissioning will end civil operations at Dabolim airport, Modi claimed that both airports in Goa are much needed.
“The Mopa international airport is not the need of the State alone but the entire country. There was always a need for a second airport in Goa. In the coming years, the new airport will cater to crores of passengers daily and also boost tourism,” he said.
The new airport, Modi claimed, will also create job avenues for locals while releasing a long list of infrastructural projects in Goa during BJP's regime in Goa and at the Centre.
Modi also took a dig at the former UPA government for keeping the proposal of Mopa airport in cold storage until in 2014, his government gave a push to the project. He recalled that during the stint of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, plans for a second airport in Goa were mooted but after his government, “nothing much was done.”
“For a long time, the project was lying in cold storage. In 2014, with the double-engine government in Goa and at the Centre, the project was expedited. I laid the foundation stone six years back…” he stated.
With the number of airports pan-India doubling in the last eight years, PM Modi further slammed the Congress for keeping air travel out of reach of the middle and lower categories. “It was a luxury to travel in flights before 2014 and there existed only 70 airports across the country even after 70 years of Independence. In the last eight years, the number of airports has doubled and we have 72 more in addition to the existing ones. We have connected big and small cities through airports and moreover, every person can afford to air travel,” he said.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who also accompanied Modi to Goa, also made it clear that Goa will continue to have two airports.
“For the first time in the country, two airports have been established in a city. Under the previous government, not even a single airport was constructed in a year. Wherever there will be a double engine government, the development will happen,” he said.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, in his speech earlier requested Modi to name the airport after Parrikar as he recalled a series of protests and legal hurdles while creating the airport infrastructure.
“We are elated that the airport is ready for commissioning. It will not only help to enhance tourism but also add to the revenue of the State exchequer,” CM said.
