Dumping garbage near airport? You may be fined

If you live in 10 km radius of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, think twice before throwing your garbage out in the open, reports Sidhartha Roy.

If you live in 10 km radius of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, think twice before throwing your garbage out in the open.

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In a bid to reduce incidents of bird hits at the airport, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is planning to fine anyone dropping garbage near the airport.

Garbage and food items attract birds, leading to bird strikes with aircrafts landing or taking off from the airport.

There were 241 incidents of bird hits in the country this year so far and many of them were in Delhi.

“The figure is less than the 304 incidents recorded last year but by December the number would catch up,” said a senior official of the Civil Aviation Ministry on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to talk to the media.

In a meeting of the National Bird Strike Prevention Committee on Tuesday, it was decided that Rule number 91 of the Aircraft Rules 1937 would be strictly enforced. The rule prohibits slaughtering of animals and dropping any garbage near an airport.

The officials were of the opinion that airlines should also be fined if they throw any garbage in an airport, which could possibly attract birds or animals.

“The aircraft rules might be revised to add a fine of Rs One lakh for airlines violating the norms,” he said.

Domestic airlines have lost crores of rupees this year due to damage caused to aircrafts by bird strikes. A special meeting of the airfield environment committees of airports would also be held soon.