Court pulls up officials for not ensuring that aircraft don’t get hit by birds, which endangers lives.
The Bombay high court on Thursday castigated the civic body for ignoring the safety of air passengers.
Taking note of the risk faced by flights at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport due to ‘bird hits’, the high court directed the municipal commissioner of Mumbai and chief secretary of Maharashtra to file personal affidavits.
A division bench of justice JN Patel and justice SC Dharmadhikari has directed municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya and chief secretary JP Dange to submit their proposals to resolve the issue of shifting dumping grounds and slaughter houses from the vicinity of the airport.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by city-based advocate Datta Mane. “Slaughter houses and dumping grounds around the international airport are the main causes for ‘bird hits’ faced by the aircrafts, which risks the lives of air passengers,” the PIL states.
The PIL seeks directives to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to cancel the licences given to slaughter houses that have mushroomed in and around the 10km radius of the airport. It says the Deonar dumping ground, which is located within the area, is in gross violation of provisions of Regulation 31, clause (f) of the Development Control Regulation for Greater Bombay, 1991.
“Just think about air commuters and the risk they face. Allowing garbage around the airport attracts birds and thereby puts the lives of passengers and residents of the area in danger,” remarked justice Patel.
Petitioner’s advocate Kunal Cheema pointed out that the boundaries surrounding the airport are full of litter and garbage, which indeed is another cause of ‘bird hit’ incidents.
Hearing the arguments, the court said: “It is not that the civic body is not aware of the seriousness of the issue. We think Mumbai does not require a corporation. There are more problems within the corporation itself.”
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