Mumbai: A public interest litigation in the Bombay high court has questioned the clearance allegedly granted by the Airports Authority of India to the height of about 200 buildings around the Juhu aerodrome and demanded that those exceeding the permissible heights under the Air Safety Regulations be demolished.
"The AAI has given illegal height clearance for about 200 buildings in violation of their own Air Safety Regulations and the rules of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," said the PIL, which seeks judicial enforcement of right to life of residents and passengers as it says pilots are flying blind relying on an outdated Obstacle Mapping of 2000. "If any aircraft crashes into one of these buildings, the result will be catastrophe," said petitioner Yeshwanth Shenoy , an advocate.
Based on International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, the DGCA regulations say a residential building within a radius of 4km of an international airport should be 56.27 m high and that within 2.5 km of the Juhu Airport should be 49.87 m or 15-floor high. For commercial buildings, the height should be even less. The DGCA specifies that in overlapping areas, the lower height shall prevail.
03/07/14 Swati Deshpande/Times of India
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"The AAI has given illegal height clearance for about 200 buildings in violation of their own Air Safety Regulations and the rules of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," said the PIL, which seeks judicial enforcement of right to life of residents and passengers as it says pilots are flying blind relying on an outdated Obstacle Mapping of 2000. "If any aircraft crashes into one of these buildings, the result will be catastrophe," said petitioner Yeshwanth Shenoy , an advocate.
Based on International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, the DGCA regulations say a residential building within a radius of 4km of an international airport should be 56.27 m high and that within 2.5 km of the Juhu Airport should be 49.87 m or 15-floor high. For commercial buildings, the height should be even less. The DGCA specifies that in overlapping areas, the lower height shall prevail.
03/07/14 Swati Deshpande/Times of India
