Centre sanctions armed CISF cover for new greenfield airport in Goa

The greenfield airport, which is undergoing the last leg of its finishing and calibration work, is located at Mopa in Pernem Taluka of the North Goa district.

New Delhi:An armed security cover of more than 400 CISF commandos has been approved by the Centre for the soon-to-be-commissioned Mopa international airport in Goa, officials said on Thursday. The greenfield airport, which is undergoing the last leg of its finishing and calibration work, is located at Mopa in Pernem Taluka of the North Goa district.

Officials told PTI that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sanctioned the deployment of an armed Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) contingent at the new airport. A strength of more than 400 personnel will be deployed at the Mopa airport, they said. The induction of the CISF unit will take place soon, an officer said. The approval was granted after a pre-induction assessment of the new facility was undertaken by a team of the aviation security group of the force. The CISF, at present, guards 65 civil airports in the country.

Goa already has an operational airport at Dabolim and it would continue to operate after the commissioning of the new facility. The Dabolim international airport, located in the South Goa district, operates as a civil enclave in a military (naval) airbase named INS Hansa. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had last month told the state Assembly that only 70 flights land at the Dabolim Airport daily, as no landing is permitted from 9 am to 2 pm at the facility.

After the commissioning of the Mopa airport, the number of flights landing in Goa will go up to 150, he had said. The CISF, according to its existing protocol at other civil airports, will provide a round-the-clock armed cover to the new facility and frisk passengers and their luggage ahead of boarding a flight. The troops will be armed with assault rifles like the AK series and the INSAS, and will man the airport perimeter from watch towers erected at vantage positions apart from having a vehicle-borne quick reaction team, the officer said.

The 1.62-lakh personnel strong paramilitary force is designated as the national civil aviation security force and the government has earlier said that it will be gradually given charge of more and more civil airports. There are about 100 operational civil airports in the country. (PTI)