PANAJI: Goa Vikas Party, a local NGO, and some farmers have joined hands to oppose the proposed greenfield airport at Mopa in North Goa.
"I will not allow a single stone to be moved from the land where the airport is proposed. I've been opposing this airport since its inception. This project is beneficial only for few corporates," Goa Vikas Party's legislator Miccky Pacheco told reporters today.
Asked as to why he was still with the government when he was against the airport project, Pacheco said his party had extended support to the then Manohar Parrikar-led state government in 2012.
"My support was for Parrikar-led government, but we never continued it when Laxmikant Parsekar took over the reigns in the state," he said.
The legislator said he won't mind joining hands with anyone who is opposing the greenfield airport project. Pacheco was flanked by Sandip Kambli, heading the association of farmers who will lose their land for the proposed airport, and A K Tripathy of an NGO, Outlook For Social Change.
The state government has announced the first phase of the Mopa airport project would be completed by 2019.
"If people living in Mopa are not happy with the airport project, then the government should not force them to accept it," Pacheco said.
Kambli, a farmer, said the villagers have decided to oppose the project tooth-and-nail.
"The airport will have to be constructed over our dead bodies," he said alleging the project is a "Rs 5,500 crore-scam".
"Total construction cost of the airport is Rs 3,000 crore while the government spent Rs 5,500 crore in acquiring the land," he claimed.
He also said the project will have huge environmental impact on the state.