Ahmedabad airport a known bird strike hotspot: Animal rights body
Ahmedabad airport recorded 319 bird and wildlife strikes between January 2018 and October 2023, ranking it third after Delhi (710) and Mumbai (352), an animal rights think-tank has revealed.
The finding comes a week after the deadly plane crash near the Ahmedabad airport that claimed 270 lives. Though bird-hit has not been identified as the cause behind the crash, some experts have even ruled it out.
The
People For Animals Public Policy Foundation
has claimed that Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport recorded 319 bird and wildlife strikes between January 2018 and October 2023, ranking it third after Delhi and Mumbai.
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The data has been taken from the response to a parliamentary question in December 2023.
The outfit said that bird strikes at the airport nearly doubled in 2023, rising 107 per cent from the previous year.
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"Nationally, such incidents surged from 167 in 2006 to 1,125 in 2022 - significantly breaching safety targets set by the civil aviation ministry," it said.
The outfit said it has sent a formal representation to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), calling for an immediate nationwide enforcement of Rule 91 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, to mitigate the chances of such collisions.
Rule 91 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, prohibits the slaughtering and flaying of animals, as well as the depositing of rubbish and other polluting or obnoxious matter, within a 10-kilometre radius of an aerodrome.
For years, PAPPF said the Ministry of Civil Aviation has acknowledged that meat shops, slaughterhouses, piggeries, dairies, and open garbage dumps near airports attract birds, heightening the risk of bird strikes.
In a 2007 Parliamentary statement, the ministry conceded that "removal of meat shops from the vicinity of airports would definitely reduce bird hit incidents."
Yet, these establishments continue to operate around many major Indian airports, including Ahmedabad, in violation of
aviation safety rules
, it said in a statement.
"We can't keep calling these tragedies 'unforeseen' when the warnings have been clear for years. Ahmedabad Airport alone had 319 documented incidents - every single one was a red flag," said Gauri Maulekhi, Trustee and Member Secretary of the People for Animals Public Policy Foundation.
"The laws we have aren't suggestions - they're meant to protect people's lives. If they had been enforced, maybe this tragedy could have been prevented," she said
Mihir Dawar, a policy specialist at the foundation, sought immediate action on the matter.
"We already have the laws and the data. What we're missing is accountability and enforcement. If we're serious about preventing more tragedies like this, we need immediate action - enforce the law, close these illegal establishments, and publicly track compliance," he said.
People For Animals Public Policy Foundation (PFA PPF) is the legal and policy wing of the parent organisation of People For Animals, which is one of India's largest animal welfare organisations, led by BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, who is also an advisor to the foundation.
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