On Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia said that all necessary steps had been taken to address the problem of bird strikes near airports and stressed the need to maintain clean places. There have been instances where birds have struck aircraft during takeoff or landing as well as in mid-air.
“As far as bird strikes are concerned, we have taken all measures at airports, including bird repellers, sound guns and other methods, which will keep birds away from airport areas,” the minister said.
Briefing reporters here about the initiatives taken by the government in the last nearly nine years for wildlife conservation, Scindia also mentioned the Swachh Bharat initiative in the context of bird hits.
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“…why do birds flock to certain places, especially airports. It is not because they make their homes there, but because they are attracted to certain objects in that area. Therefore, areas Keeping clean and ensuring that birds do not congregate around areas of transport that could pose a danger to airlines is very important to us,” he said.
Aviation regulator DGCA has formulated rules and guidelines for managing potential wildlife threats at licensed airports to ensure the safety of air operations. Rule 91 of the Aircraft Rules 1937 prohibits dumping of garbage and slaughter of animals that may attract wildlife within 10 kilometers of the aerodrome reference point.
Also, aerodrome operators are required to implement an effective wildlife control mechanism to control wildlife attacks for the aerodrome concerned. They are also required to identify, manage and reduce the risk to aircraft operations posed by wildlife by adopting possible measures to reduce the risk of collision between wildlife and aircraft.
with PTI inputs