The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the decks for construction of an international airport at Mopa in Goa by lifting the suspension on environmental clearance (EC) granted for the project, which would be spread over 2,131 acres.
The top court in March last year had suspended the EC granted for the greenfield airport and directed the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) to revisit the decision in light of its impact on the ecology there.
The need for a new airport was buttressed as the passenger traffic at Goa was expected to rise in the upcoming financial years — 12 million passengers by 2021 to 17.9 million by 2025 — and the existing airport at Dabolim is a defence establishment which is closed to area traffic between 8.30 am and 1.30 pm daily.
