Garbage dumped around the Ahmedabad airport draws birds aplenty to the area, posing a threat to aircrafts.
The matter of keeping the area surrounding the Sardar Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad garbage-free — to avoid drawing birds which pose an airborne threat to flights taking off and landing — has been on the authorities’ radar for at least a decade.
However, a solution for this is yet to be found, even after a series of meetings between officials of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The root of the problem may be found in the municipal corporation’s inability to implement an effective solid-waste management system in the area, as well as in the apathy of the residents of these areas. It is believed that the increasing number of birds in the vicinity of the airport can be attributed to the absence of an effective solid-waste management system, as the waste, which is consequently thrown in open grounds, lures the birds to the area.
Now, with the aim of finding a solution for the problem, and also to understand the residents’ grievances, the AMC has planned to hold discussions with those living along the periphery of the airport. On Monday, officials of the civic body will meet the residents of these areas, specifically to enquire into the reason for them not dumping their garbage in the bins provided.
“The citizens’ response is not as we had expected. There is a need to spread awareness among them regarding the dumping of garbage in open spaces and the consequences of doing so. With the aim of increasing participation from the residents of the areas around the airport, we are holding a meeting with them on Monday,” a senior official of the AMC said.
The official said that the meeting is being conducted to hear out the citizens’ complaints, so as to fashion a solution for their problems. “In addition, we are distributing pamphlets and will meet the residents to ask them to dispose of their garbage in the bins,” an AMC official said.
The AMC has, meanwhile, begun cleaning the areas around the airport and has sealed two butcher shops. “There are around 10 such shops selling meat in the areas, and we have sealed two of these,” an official of the municipal corporation said. It is pertinent to note that it is illegal to run butcher shops within 15 km of an airport, yet these shops are operational in the surrounding areas. “The rest of the shops sell meat legally, so we cannot remove them,” another official of the civic body said.
Finding a solution to the avian problem
1 With the aim of finding a solution to the problem, and also understanding the residents’ grievances, the AMC has planned to hold discussions with those living along the periphery of the airport.
2 The civic body is distributing pamphlets and will meet the residents to ask them to dispose of their garbage in the bins, an AMC official said.
3 The AMC has, meanwhile, begun cleaning the areas around the airport and has also sealed two butcher shops.
4 It is pertinent to note that it is illegal to run butcher shops within 15 km of an airport, yet such shops are operational in the surrounding areas. An AMC official, however, said that the rest of the shops sell meat legally, so they cannot be removed.
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