With the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) set to become operational within weeks, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has instructed the airport operator to take action against all activities attracting bird activity including open slaughtering of animals in the vicinity.
Local activists had raised concerns about illegal slaughter of goats and chickens in Ulwe, a locality three kilometres from the airport runway.
The presence of food waste and carcasses has led to a surge in bird activity, increasing the risk of bird strikes to aircraft, claimed B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation, who had filed a complain with the Prime Minister’s Public Grievance Portal on February 24.
As per the reply received by him, DGCA director Amit Gupta advised the "aerodrome operator to take necessary steps to stop all activities, including slaughtering of animals, which attract bird activity in the vicinity of the aerodrome."
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