The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has instructed its staff to clear garbage from the areas around Lohegaon airport to avoid bird hit incidents.
PMC solid waste management department head Asha Raut said, “We have not got any letter or instructions from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) but as a precautionary measure, we have instructed our staff to clear garbage from the Vimannagar, Lohegaon and Ahmednagar road areas.”
“A larger number of birds are seen in areas where garbage piles up. While there have been media reports about instructions from the AAI, we haven’t received any official communication, and have given instructions to our staff on our own,” Raut said.
“We are concentrating on taking strict action against single-use plastic in the city. Between July 1 and 23, the PMC took action against 159 citizens and recovered ₹8.40 lakh in fines. A total 2,118 kg of plastic was confiscated,” Raut said.
The PMC is also taking action against sanitary inspectors for not initiating the drive against single-use plastic in their localities. The civic body has issued show cause notices to 22 sanitary inspectors for not monitoring plastic and other issues in their specified areas.