Coconut trees felled on Bhubaneswar airport's flight path
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Bhubaneswar: The coconut trees that had posed as an obstruction to a plane's approach at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) have been finally felled by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The three coconut trees were cut down days after TOI had flagged the issue in the aftermath of the Air India aircraft crash in Ahmedabad, highlighting the fact that unauthorised structures and coconut trees of Nilakantheswar Temple could pose a threat to flights landing towards the Jagamara-Khandagiri end of the runway.
For several months, BPIA had sought the BMC's help in cutting down the trees. "The coconut trees were cut by BMC's enforcement squad, but there are still banyan trees and an unauthorised market building.
I hope the civic authorities will take up the matter seriously and carry out enforcement," BPIA director Prasanna Pradhan said.
Kajal Pradhan, BMC deputy commissioner, admitted that some trees are still to be cut. "We have taken note of all the trees that can cause obstruction. We will cut them as well and prune some located at a distance," she told TOI.
On June 14, BPIA had once again urged the BMC to cut the coconut trees.
As per the BPIA missive, birds perched on the trees would at times fly onto the path of the aircraft and hit its nose, fuselage, windshield and engine during landing and take-off. This posed a potential threat to the aircraft and passenger safety, airport officials said.
Earlier, BPIA officials said they were not able to implement the instrument landing system (ILS) CAT-II on the runway because the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had put the approval on hold owing to the obstructions.
"Even before the trees were cut, we had made some alternative technical arrangements for the workability of the CAT-II facility. But it is good that the coconut trees have been finally removed," Pradhan said.
BPIA authorities had recently surveyed the area along with officials of BMC, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), general administration department and police. BPIA sources said several shops and electric poles also lie close to the approach line of runway-14, which infringe on the approach light and obstacle-free zone (OFZ) of the airport.
Bhubaneswar: The coconut trees that had posed as an obstruction to a plane's approach at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) have been finally felled by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The three coconut trees were cut down days after TOI had flagged the issue in the aftermath of the Air India aircraft crash in Ahmedabad, highlighting the fact that unauthorised structures and coconut trees of Nilakantheswar Temple could pose a threat to flights landing towards the Jagamara-Khandagiri end of the runway.
For several months, BPIA had sought the BMC's help in cutting down the trees. "The coconut trees were cut by BMC's enforcement squad, but there are still banyan trees and an unauthorised market building. I hope the civic authorities will take up the matter seriously and carry out enforcement," BPIA director Prasanna Pradhan said.
Kajal Pradhan, BMC deputy commissioner, admitted that some trees are still to be cut. "We have taken note of all the trees that can cause obstruction.
We will cut them as well and prune some located at a distance," she told TOI.
On June 14, BPIA had once again urged the BMC to cut the coconut trees. As per the BPIA missive, birds perched on the trees would at times fly onto the path of the aircraft and hit its nose, fuselage, windshield and engine during landing and take-off. This posed a potential threat to the aircraft and passenger safety, airport officials said.
Earlier, BPIA officials said they were not able to implement the instrument landing system (ILS) CAT-II on the runway because the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had put the approval on hold owing to the obstructions.
"Even before the trees were cut, we had made some alternative technical arrangements for the workability of the CAT-II facility. But it is good that the coconut trees have been finally removed," Pradhan said.
BPIA authorities had recently surveyed the area along with officials of BMC, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), general administration department and police. BPIA sources said several shops and electric poles also lie close to the approach line of runway-14, which infringe on the approach light and obstacle-free zone (OFZ) of the airport.
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