Pruned trees along Peer Ali Path leading to the airport in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

The state government on Thursday claimed to have removed all the obstacles on its property along the aircraft approach funnel of Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport.

“Acting on the communication from the Union ministry of civil aviation and Airports Authority of India (AAI), we have removed all objects marked as obstacles along the aircraft approach funnel of Patna airport by August 14. Now, we will send a letter to the Union ministry and the AAI within 48 hours to inform them about this development,” said a senior officer of the state government.

Chief secretary Navin Kumar in a meeting with senior officers on August 7 had set August 14 deadline for removal of all obstacles on the property of the state government. According to sources, the officers had told Navin that 95 per cent of the obstacles had been removed till then. The remaining obstacles included around 70 trees inside Patna zoo, few poles and rooftop antennae.

The chief secretary had also asked the officers to hold parleys with their counterparts in central government agencies for removing obstacles on their assets. Subsequently, East Central Railways (ECR) has agreed to prune trees along the Howrah-Delhi railway line near Phulwarisharif station. “The ECR has agreed to prune the trees near the airport following the height restriction prescribed by the AAI. The trees are expected to be pruned within a week,” said Ravikant, the principal secretary of cabinet co-ordination department.

While the railway has agreed to trim the trees and the state government has removed the obstacles on the aircraft approach funnel, a notice from the directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA) for removal of obstacles in private areas is still awaited.

“The AAI earlier accused the state government of being laggard in removal of obstacles. But we have removed all the hurdles falling on our property. Now, what is stopping the DGCA from issuing notice for removal of obstacles on private property? Only DGCA has the authority to serve notice on owners of private assets under the provisions of Aircraft (Demolition of Obstruction Caused by Building and Trees, etc) Rules, 1994 and the state government can only ensure action on them,” said a senior state government officer.

The AAI re-notified the length of the runways at Patna airport on August 3 according to the recommendation of the DGCA. The NOTAM (notice to airmen) issued the same day stated that the available landing distance on runway 07 (Phulwarisharif-end) would be reduced from 1,677m to 1,141m from August 16. The landing distance on runway 25 (on Patna zoo end) was also reduced from 1,820m to 1,289m. The take-off distance of both the runways was also downsized. On August 11, the AAI extended the revised runway length’s effective date from August 16 to 31.