Fine for slaughtering in open near airport hiked to prevent bird hits

New Delhi: Slaughtering in the open or leaving carcasses exposed within a 15 km radius of an airport will now attract a hefty fine along with imprisonment of up to three months. Since these activities attract birds and have made bird hits quite common endangering lives of lakhs of air travellers the government has hiked the fine for the offence to Rs 1 lakh. The aviation ministry and the DGCA have amended the Aircraft Act to provide for this penalty, which will have to be implemented by the airport operator and local civic agencies.
The airport environment management committees at three critical places Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur will meet soon to focus on the growing menace of bird hits and animal incursions. Ahmedabad has been rated to be the worst affected airport.
In 2006, one hundred and sixty seven incidents were reported. This went up to 217 and 304 in 2007 and 2008, respectively. This year till October, 241 bird strikes have been reported.
19/11/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Nov 2009, Safety Nov 2009