Kolkata: The city airport may have got a glitzy integrated terminal, but problems at the ground level continue to disrupt seamless flight operations. And talking of the immediate menace, it's packs of jackals that are giving sleepless nights to airport officials. The problem identified, the airport authorities are now going all-out to evict jackals from the airport complex before monsoon arrives.
Director general of civil aviation Arun Kumar Mishra on Friday called the jackal packs a major safety hazard at the airport. "The animal menace at the airport is a big problem. We need to resolve this before the monsoon sets in so that flight operations are not affected by their incursions on the runway," he told TOI.
It isn't known how many of these animals inhabit the 1,670-acre airport ground but pilots and ground staff have sighted several packs roaming about along the east of the primary runway.
29/04/13 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India
