Mohali administration fails to shoo away birds, flights threatened

Times of India: Mohali: Sunday, 10 August 2014.

Bird strikes are a problem common to most airports, but Chandigarh airport has been grappling with it due to Mohali administration's inability to shoo away the winged intruders. Animal carcasses, meat shops and huge garbage dumps in Mohali's Jagatpura area, located a stone's throw from the airport, attract large flocks of birds, risking the safety of passengers.

While the Air Force authorities claim that it is for the Mohali district authorities to keep the area around the airport free of litter, the latter has expressed inability to keep the meat shops and garbage dumps from reappearing. The issue was also raised at a meeting of Air Force officials with top brass of Mohali administration on Thursday.

Sandeep Chakraborty, who flies a two-seater pilot plane, said, "Birds get used to the loud noise of planes and are attracted to the machine. World over, new techniques are being developed to stop birds from flying around airports. In America, they use trained birds of prey to distract birds from around the periphery of the airport, but here we can't even keep garbage dumps away."

DC Mohali Tejinder Pal Singh said, "The matter has been brought to our notice and the municipal corporation will take action against offenders. Very soon, we will also change the site for dumping animal carcasses and disposing of garbage on the periphery of the airport. To take care of this matter is first on our priority list."

Sources said National Green Tribunal had also asked MC Mohali to change the site of dumping waste from Patial ki Rao to a new site allotted to them, but MC is still dumping waste at the same site.

"We had filed an RTI application to get information about the disposal of animal carcasses in and around the residential area of Jagatpura, but the government is not replying to us. Unauthorized meat shops are removed by the officials only to be set up the next moment," said Jasbir Singh, a resident of Mohali.

Accident averted:

In 2010, an Air India Airbus A321-200 arrived in Chandigarh from Delhi with 153 passengers on-board, and while turning off the runway, an eagle hit the nose gear of the aircraft damaging some wires and front wheels. The airplane was towed to the apron where passengers disembarked normally.