MANGALORE: The green signal by environment minister Prakash Javadekar for Phase II of Seabird, the Indian Navy 's ambitious infrastructure project , heralds the countdown for the base to become a symbol of the nation's military might in a few years.The expansion will be under Project Seabird Phase II-A, IIB which will entail construction of a host of facilities expected to cost about $2 billion and completed during 2020.In these phases of construction, facilities to berth India's key aircraft carriers and construction of a wide range of new facilities by augmenting existing facilities will be taken up. Under Phase II, the Naval station will get an airbase, armament depot, dockyard complex and missile silos, apart from additional jetties, berthing and anchorage facilities in addition to base around 30 major warships including INS Vikramaditya, Scorpene submarines and a number of surface ships, almost on a par with US Navy's mammoth Norfolk naval base in Virginia. The base, expected to harbour about 60 major warships by 2020, will become Asia’s largest naval base, say Indian Navy sources.But the naval base is not free from controversy. Projects like Kaiga and Seabird have put more pressure on the ecosystem, argue environmental activists. The multi-crore Seabird project continues to pile misery on the local population since 1986.The 4,000-odd families from 13 villages are still running from pillar to post even though the Supreme Court ruled in their favour for higher compensation. Seabird union members say big projects like Seabird, Kaiga and Konkan railway have displaced people in large numbers without any tangible benefits.Defence department says Phase II will change the face of Karwar. It will bring good business to locals and they will get indirect employment and the airport will boost tourism, defence officials say.Locals are not enthused since similar promises were made during the Phase I. “Let them provide jobs to land losers first,’’ said advocate Nagaraj Nayak, who spearheads the agitation for jobs for project-affected families.