The Goa airport faces several problems like inadequate number of immigration counters, poor housekeeping, limited food outlets and inferior quality of civil work, state Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said and requested the Centre to address these issues ahead of the tourist season.
"The state tourism industry is alarmed and concerned at the lack of world-class facilities at the Goa airport which receives thousands of international travellers," Paruelkar has said in a communication to Civil Aviation Minister Gajapathi Raju.
Parulekar, in the letter sent yesterday, apprised Raju that the newly renovated Dabolim Airport terminal faces several problems like poor housekeeping, limited food outlets, inferior quality of civil work of the building.
A false ceiling in the communication room of the airport had fallen down during the first week of monsoon.
Parulekar sought the intervention of the Civil Aviation Minister to issue necessary directions to the authorities concerned to tackle the problems on priority before the 2016-17 in tourism season which begins in October.
The minister, in a separate letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, has drawn his attention to several shortcomings at the immigration counters in the airport.
"There is need to review the functioning of the immigration offices at the Dabolim Airport, which is at present reeling under pressure following insufficient counters and staff," Parulekar said.
He said there is inadequate number of counters leading to long queues of tourists causing inconvenience to them, and added that the current Immigration Bureau Office is under staffed, which further compounds the problems.
"There is a need for streamlining of the existing immigration system at the airport, especially after the state government is putting extra effort to attract foreign tourists to Goa," he said.
He also requested Singh to intervene and direct the authorities concerned to ensure that sufficient immigration counters are set up and manned to cater to the increasing requirements, especially in the coming season and for the BRICS Summit to be held in Goa in October this year.
