Saturday, October 03, 2015

A little bird tells us, there is disaster waiting at the Dabolim airport

Birds are emerging as a major threat to flight operations at the Dabolim International Airport. Concerned over the looming danger, the naval authorities as well as Airport authorities has made several requests to the state administration seeking immediate intervention to alleviate the menace of garbage around the airport so as to curb the movement of birds in the airspace, in turn preventing bird-hits. Notably, every second day, a bird-hit incident occurs at the airport, damaging not only civilian aircrafts but even naval aircrafts. In the last month, two major bird-hit incidents have been reported, leaving flights grounded at the airport.
The bird menace is primarily due to the garbage strewn around the vicinity of the airport. The concerned officials are yet to use these incidents as a wake up call in order to tackle the menace on a priority basis. One can still find piles of garbage around Dabolim, despite the fact that Dabolim MLA, Mauvin Godinho, Vasco MLA, Carlos Almeida, MLA and Environment minister, Alina Saldanha and South Goa MP Narendra Savoikar have raised concerns on different platforms at regular intervals. However, effective solutions are yet to see the light of day.
The Airfield Environment Management Committee debates the issue of bird-hits at every meeting. Even naval authorities from Goa have been making repeated requests to the state government asking for a solution. In a routine effort, this year as well a letter was sent to the Chief Secretary of Goa with details of garbage dumping sites close to the airport.
03/10/15 Herald
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