Kochi: Height restrictions for buildings near airports are being violated in Kerala and local bodies are failing to demolish such buildings as required by law, alleges a public interest litigation (PIL) filed before the Kerala High Court.
Many instances of violation of height restrictions near Thiruvananthapuram airport were flagged by the Appellate Authority on Height Clearances in 2015 and in the CAG report of 2016. However, these buildings have not been demolished yet as required by law, thereby placing the lives of air passengers, crew, and people on the ground at risk, alleges a PIL filed by Yeshwanth Shenoy, a Mumbai-based lawyer.
Through the PIL, the petitioner has brought the court's attention to the practice of granting the mandatory no objection certificate (NOC) to a building that failed to clear the height restriction by an Appellate Authority on Height Clearances by relying on aeronautical studies. While Airports Authority of India (AAI) is responsible for issuing NOCs at regional levels, the Ministry of Civil Aviation constituted an appellate authority in the guise of a grievance cell. Neither the appellate authority nor the aeronautical studies they rely on to grant NOCs have legal validity, the petitioner has alleged.
When different high courts interfered with the appellate authority's practice of granting NOCs in cases where AAI has denied NOCs, they moved to new territories, including Kerala, with Thiruvananthapuram becoming the hub of such applications, the petition said.
09/01/18 Mahir Haneef/Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Many instances of violation of height restrictions near Thiruvananthapuram airport were flagged by the Appellate Authority on Height Clearances in 2015 and in the CAG report of 2016. However, these buildings have not been demolished yet as required by law, thereby placing the lives of air passengers, crew, and people on the ground at risk, alleges a PIL filed by Yeshwanth Shenoy, a Mumbai-based lawyer.
Through the PIL, the petitioner has brought the court's attention to the practice of granting the mandatory no objection certificate (NOC) to a building that failed to clear the height restriction by an Appellate Authority on Height Clearances by relying on aeronautical studies. While Airports Authority of India (AAI) is responsible for issuing NOCs at regional levels, the Ministry of Civil Aviation constituted an appellate authority in the guise of a grievance cell. Neither the appellate authority nor the aeronautical studies they rely on to grant NOCs have legal validity, the petitioner has alleged.
When different high courts interfered with the appellate authority's practice of granting NOCs in cases where AAI has denied NOCs, they moved to new territories, including Kerala, with Thiruvananthapuram becoming the hub of such applications, the petition said.
09/01/18 Mahir Haneef/Times of India
0 comments:
Post a Comment