AAI refuses to back down on statue

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India has sought a second response over the 263-m high Shiv statue, which causes landing trouble for aircraft at IGI airport. The legal notice issued in November had asked Jaya Shree Trust to either relocate or decrease the height of the Shiv statue. Airports Authority of India (AAI) termed the Shiv murti a "safety and security risk to the lives of innocent passengers flying in and out" of IGI airport.
In 1989, AAI had allowed the trust to build a 252.1-m high statue. But officials say that the actual height is 263.4m — 11.5m more than permitted.
The trust responded on December 2, 2010, denying that it exceeded the permitted height and questioned AAI's silence since 1994, when the statue was completed. It also questioned why AAI permitted the new runway to be built at its present location despite knowing that the statue is in the way and said that the statue was not a safety risk in any way. "No occasion arises for reducing the height of the Shiv Murti and/or removing or relocating the same," the trust replied.
According to an AAI official, "We asked them to decrease the height of the Shiv statue as soon as possible or relocate it. Earlier, too, it was suggested that the base of the statue be removed but it has been left to the trust to decide."
The extra height has meant that a substantial length of the new runway built just ahead of the statue remains unused. In order to avoid the statue, aircraft are unable to descend on time and hence land after 2,820m of the 4,280-m long runway.
25/01/11 Saurabh Sinha & Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jan 2011