Why is night curfew not implemented for flights to and from airports across the country, the National Green Tribunal asked on Tuesday as it directed aviation regulator DGCA to provide data on flights landing at the IGI Airport here at night.
Taking the government to task over lack of norms on noise pollution in residential areas near airports across the country, the NGT asked “why should there not be night flying restrictions at airports.”
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the government to file a short note on the steps taken by it to notify noise-level standards for airport noise zones.
It also asked Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to give a break-up of flights landing in the night between 10 pm and 7 am at the IGI Airport here.
“What steps have you introduced to curb noise pollution in residential areas near airports so that people are not disturbed? Why should there not be night flying restrictions at airports? You give a short note on these aspects”, the Bench said.
The government told the bench it was adopting various aircraft noise mitigation measures like Continuous Descent Approach and mixed mode approach to bring down noise levels at airports.
Continuous Descent Approach or Optimized Profile Descent is a landing method designed to reduce fuel consumption and noise compared to other conventional descents.