AAI team maps area for deforestation

Patna: In a fresh initiative to make the Patna airport safer, the Bihar government has made a move to get a part of the city zoo de-notified so as to cut or prune 3700-odd trees in a triangular area of 17 acres.
Principal secretary (cabinet secretariat) Afzal Amanullah has written a letter to the principal secretary, environment and forest department, in this regard. "We need to plant small plants of rose etc in their place,'' the letter, sent on Tuesday, said.
The cabinet secretariat has also asked the forest and environment department to expedite the ongoing process of pruning another 249 trees inside the zoo. "This is also necessary according to the observations of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),'' the letter said.
The DGCA has threatened to declare the airport unsuitable for big aircraft operations from September 1 if obstacles in the approach funnel are not cleared. Besides the trees in the zoo, the obstacles include the main secretariat tower. Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials want the tower to be lowered by 11.5 metres.
25/08/10 Pooja Kashyap/Times of India

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Categories: airports aug 2010