Easy check in: The unguarded gate (encircled) on the western side of Patna airport. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, March 2: Runways are considered high security zones as even the smallest obstacle on the tarmac can endanger the lives of passengers while aircraft land or take off.

The same, however, does not seem to be applicable in the case of Patna airport, where chances of animals straying into the runway run high.

Passengers, in fact, had a first-hand experience of the ground situation when the Patna air traffic control spotted a stray dog on the runway and asked the pilot of an evening flight from Calcutta to remain airborne just as it was preparing for touchdown.

“The aircraft had started descending when suddenly, it again started gaining altitude. After hovering above the airport for around 20 minutes, the plane landed,” said Mayank Gupta, a passenger on the (IT 4579) Kingfisher Calcutta-Patna evening flight, which was not allowed to land for 20 minutes owing to the presence of a dog on the runway. “The captain informed us about the reason,” he added.

The flight was preparing to land around 8.10pm but was finally allowed to land at 8.30pm owing to the presence of the dog. Those responsible for the security of the airport, however, are not surprised by the incident. “We have written several letters to the state government urging that the gate on the western side of the premises located behind the IAS Bhavan, where the staff of the state flying institute reside, should remain closed and guarded but our requests have fallen on deaf ears,” said a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official, who refused to be named.

Security of airports across the country is the responsibility of the CISF. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) pays the central force to avail of its services. The official claimed that the colony residents throw food remains in the open, attracting stray animals, which intrude the airport premises at times.

The CISF official’s claims on the safety issue seemed correct when The Telegraph team gained entry to the premises unchallenged and even reached the unguarded gate on the rear side of the colony. The gate was ajar and one could have a view of airport premises standing at the gate.

On his part, the CISF official said: “As the CISF can take action only if one enters the airport premises, it is virtually impossible to check the movement of stray animals in case the gate concerned remains open.

Airport sources said the issue has been raised in the monthly meetings of the airport security committee but no avail. Sources in the state civil aviation department did not rule out the possibility of stray animals entering the airport premises through this gate. “Though the gate is closed at night, it remains open unguarded in the day. We recently wrote a letter to the home department for deployment of police personnel,” said a senior official of the state civil aviation department. He claimed that the home department is yet to respond.