In IGI backyard,a new ‘bird sanctuary’

The DIAL maintains it is not dumping any of its own untreated effluent because it has its own sewage treatment plant.

An official statement from the DIAL read: “The airport’s sewage is treated and then routed into a drain which connects to the Najafgarh drain… Untreated sewage from Rangpuri and Mahipalpur villages enters the airport periphery near Kapashera crossing,which then flows along the airport boundary.”

“Drainage is considered a major problem plaguing the airport’s new runway since its inception,” said an airport official. “The entire area on the Dwarka side,where the runway has been built,has a gradient of about 16 feet,with the NH-8 side being higher.”

But matters worsened a month ago,when a drain was damaged and more water began accumulating.

The issue was the agenda of a meeting held on February 16 between DIAL,DGCA,the Ministry of Civil Aviation,the Delhi government’s Environment department,the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control and representatives of civic agencies — the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Delhi Development Authority.

The authorities had tried to take stock of the “drain number 2,which has an outfall on the airport land outside the boundary on Kapashera side”.

The problem,sources said,will be resolved only after a new drain — connecting all drains from the nearby villages with the Najafgarh drain — is built.

The construction is currently being carried out by the PWD,said DIAL officials. But it is not certain when the work will be finished and the drain will become operational.

The Irrigation and Flood Control Department said at the meeting that the drain project began on November 3,but it would not be able to meet deadline of June 15. The project will be completed only by November 2.

At the meeting,the DIAL also said indiscriminate dumping of animal waste inside the airport buffer zone,presence of wild animals like blue bulls and jackals,slaughtering and open animal garbage at the landfill in Ghazipur and tall trees near the take-off and approach path are major threats to flight operations.

According to the Aircraft Act,sewage or garbage should not be allowed to accumulate in a 10-km radius of the airport.

Bird hit at airport

* The IGI is more prone to bird hits than any other airport in country

* Incidents usually occur during landing and take-off

* Birds hitting a plane’s body not too dangerous,but consequences disastrous if they are sucked into the engine

* Bird hit cases did not show any significant increase at the IGI Airport last year. There was no decrease either. In 2009,Delhi reported 67 of the 304 cases. The last case was reported on July 25