Bird hits scare IGI officials

The IGI airport is fast turning into an airport most prone to bird hits. The rise in bird hit cases is largely due to accumulating garbage from illegal slaughter houses in the airport’s neighbourhood.

The rise in garbage has also been caused by the coming up of sub-city Dwarka, the biggest residential colony in Asia. The garbage dumps are an open invitation to birds. According to an airport source, two years ago, Airport Authority of India (AAI) conducted a study on what causes bird hits. The report pointed out unchecked growth of human habitation and improper disposal of municipal solid waste were the main causes.

‘There has been deployment of about 80 bird chasers on both sides of operational runways and 12 sharp shooters armed with acoustic guns but they have not been of much use. Furthermore, the engagement of expert agencies has been inculcated to facilitate the capture of stray animals in the air-ride,’ said the spokesperson of Delhi International Airport (P) Limited (DIAL). 

‘The controlled use of fire crackers of low, medium and high decibel and vehicles fitted with radiotelephony and scare crow devices with distress calls to scare birds are also adopted. 

Maintenance of grass not below 6 inches to prevent insect visibility as well as covering of drains within the airport boundary with wire meshing is being proposed,’ the spokesperson added.

According to the civil aviation organisation (ICAO), a majority of bird strikes occur during the day-light hours and nearly 75 percent occur below 200 feet. Civil aviation ministry data shows that in May 2014, 33 bird hit incidents were reported. In April, 30 incidents were reported and 38 were reported in the March this year. In February, 29 bird hits were reported while in January 23 incidents came to light.