Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mahesh Sharma informed the Lok Sabha yesterday that the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken up several steps to ensure safety of aircrafts from birds and wildlife. According to him, the DGCA has constituted teams to carry out aerodrome inspection of 18 critical airports for prevention of wildlife hazard. Inspection/audit of 11 airports have been completed by the respective teams and the findings are being sent to the operators for immediate corrective action within a period of 3 months and they have been advised to put in place a system to ensure that wildlife/birds are kept away before every take-off and landing.
Moreover, the DGCA has appraised administration of all the state governments, through communication to the Chief Secretaries of the states on the importance of the compliance of Rule 91 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. Also, a high power National Bird Control Committee has been set up by Government of India. Meanwhile, Airfield Environment Management Committee has been constituted at every airport where scheduled flights operate.
