WASTE DUMPING POSES THREAT TO AIR PASSENGERS

WASTE DUMPING POSES THREAT TO AIR PASSENGERS

Safety concerns have been raised over the dumping of garbage close to the eastern boundary wall of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, and the City Corporation's move to deposit waste in a vacant plot a stone's throw away from the approach of the 3,398 m runway.The City Corporation's move to dump garbage in pits dug on a one-and-a-half acre plot of land close to the runway of the airport as part of the temporary measures to overcome the garbage crisis faced by the city following the closure of the Vilappilsala plant have raised concerns. “We have found that dumping of waste near the approach to the runway and near the Ponnara bridge had increased after the garbage crisis aggravated in the city. Bird activities have also increased in the vicinity and it raises safety concerns,” a top official of the Airport Authority of India said.

Accumulated garbage attracts birds in large numbers and it is a potential threat to the aircraft approaching for landing and take off, it had been pointed out. The official said there had been a let up in the dumping of garbage near the periphery of the airport following the stern steps by the civic body and imposing of penalty on those caught red-handed. The local people and the residents of the Bangladesh Colony near the N.S. depot and the adjacent areas have been keeping vigil round-the-clock after the civic authorities started using the plot for dumping waste. The local people have buried the garbage dumped so far in the plot and have put up boards warning against further dumping of waste. A treatment plant in the area was closed down way back in 1985 after safety concerns were raised.

The Air India Nagar Residents and Welfare Association has taken up the issue with the Airport Director, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. In a memorandum, president of the association M.R. Sudeer said the move to deposit meat and poultry waste in the area would endanger the lives air passengers as the waste dumped would attract birds in large numbers. The association has urged the civic body to withdraw from the proposed move. Residents said that taking advantage of the situation miscreants had started dumping garbage originating in hotels and catering units into the Parvathy Puthanar from near the Ponnara bridge. The AAI authorities and the civic body officials inspected the eastern areas of the airport on Friday. “The AAI had written to the City Corporation not to deposit waste near the approach to the runway and to take action against those dumping garbage there,” the AAI official said.

                                                                                         Prof. John Kurakar