DIAL for fresh survey to check obstructions on flying path at Delhi airport

Two years after it carried out a survey to identify structures obstructing the flight path, the operator of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here is set to conduct a fresh "check" survey this year, sources in the airport said. The survey is being commissioned by the GMR-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and will cover an area of 20 km radius.

"The objective is to identify the structures, find out if they have NOCs and mitigate the obstacle-related issues," a source privy to the development said, adding that 40 critical obstacles on the approach and departure paths were already removed. "Our obligation is to identify the obstacles and ask the competent authorities such as the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to notify them," the source said.

As a first step, DIAL is serving notices to various erring parties, while both DGCA and DIAL are working to remove the obstacles that are beyond the airport premises.

The last survey, the findings of which were presented before the Delhi High Court in March, had identified 365 such obstacles. The court, hearing a PIL on the matter, had directed the airport and the local authorities to submit a list of the obstacles, along with their details, and a report on the action taken to remove those.

The obstacles are mostly in the form of buildings, trees, electric poles and mobile phone towers. While the critical ones on the flight path were removed, for the rest, which included permanent structures, the solution was mitigation, the sources said.

For example, it could be done by fixing a light atop a building or modifying the building structure, they added. "We are governed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and deviations from guidelines are taken seriously. The matter is the same here," a source said.

DIAL is also reaching out to individual households and keeping a track of the construction in the surrounding areas of the airport.

According to the guidelines, there should be no high-rise buildings within the approach funnel of any airport in order to provide a safe glide path to aircraft. But unauthorised constructions have become a major issue around airports not only in Delhi, but in other cities as well.

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No-objection certificates (NOCs) are obtained through manipulation in the absence of clarity as regards the height of the buildings falling on the flight path, an AAI official said.