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Time of India
01-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Dogs on runway: Experts urge IAF, AAI and PMC to help secure Pune airport
Pune: Aviation experts have urged officials tasked with operations at the airport to put in place measures to stop stray animals from entering the runway area and triggering incidents like the one last Saturday, when an Air India Express jet had to abort a landing after dogs were seen on approach. The experts described the incident as serious and called for collaboration to address the problem, among the IAF, which manages air operations, PMC and Airports Authority of India. Feeding of strays should be controlled and sterilisation must be carried out in the area, they said. Saturday's incident was the second time in 5 months dogs on the runway had disrupted flight operations at Pune airport. "On Feb 13, a serious incident occurred during the take-off roll of Flight SG 2962 from Pune to Ahmedabad, when a dog was spotted on the runway," read a letter written by Pune Airport Director Santosh Dhoke to PMC at the time. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune The letter added: "The aircraft made contact with the dog approximately 100 metres from the lineup point, forcing crew to reject the takeoff. The dog was found dead, and the aircraft returned to the bay for checks. While no significant damage to the aircraft was reported, passengers were deplaned, causing considerable inconvenience as they had to repeat check-in, security, and boarding processes." Dhoke confirmed the contents of the letter on Monday. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo "Yes, I wrote the letter requesting action. PMC conducted a dog sterilisation drive after that, but the problem has not been resolved," he told TOI. Dhoke didn't elaborate on risks posed by strays, but said that in Pune, AAI has no direct role in air operations. "The IAF is responsible for the entire air operation at Pune airport," he said. TOI tried to contact Air Commodore Satbir Singh Rai, Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of Air Force Station Pune on Monday, but he could not be reached. A senior IAF officer from New Delhi said: "We have mechanisms to counter birds and dogs at each station (IAF monitored). But this issue is complex for us to resolve entirely on our end. These problems emerge due to external civic issues outside the campus of the station. The civic bodies and, to some extent, the airport officials need to work equally hard to control this problem. " The officer added IAF has trained personnel for bird threats. "When it comes to dogs, some IAF stations even dedicated dog squads. But the problem remains at certain locations," the officer said. Dhairyashil Vandekar, an aviation expert, said the string of recent animal intrusions at Lohegaon airport — a leopard in April to strays now — presented a worrisome situation for both AAI and IAF authorities. "The entire campus of Pune Air Force station is a compound. So how do strays enter operational areas of the airport? To prevent such problems, we need to have a plan in place for inside and outside the airport. We often see stray dogs outside the airport," Vandekar said. Sarika Funde, head of PMC's veterinary department, said dog catchers are sent to the Pune airport area every Saturday. "All authorities need to work towards securing the airport. We don't know how dogs enter the runway despite the Air Force station being secured by compound walls. Adequate measures need to be taken at the airport too to keep dogs away from the premises," Funde said.
Time of India
09-06-2025
- Time of India
Packers and movers transport 108 kg ganja from Odisha to Nagpur in bank manager's household goods
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel An investigation into the seizure of 108 kg marijuana (ganja) worth Rs 27 lakh last week has found out that a packers-and-movers transporter, Avinash Dhoke, had brought the narcotics consignment concealed in household goods of an innocent bank manager, who had been transferred from Odisha to Nagpur, reported consignment was intercepted by Kalamna police after a dramatic chase on June 3. It has affected the bank manager's shifting plan as his household goods have been impounded as evidence. However, the police have promised to legally sort out the issue.A Kalamna police team, led by senior inspector Praveen Kale under Zonal DCP Niketan Kadam, travelled about 700 km from Nagpur to a remote Odisha village to nab the key supplier, Bulbul Pradhan, alias 'WhatsApp Bhai'. The police waited in a trap set for him for more than 24 hours. Pradhan belongs to a family of drug mafia. His elder brother is part of an interstate racket with a nationwide mission to bust the drug cartel was done by Nagpur CP Ravinder Singal's crackdown on narcotics 'Operation Thunder', which has unearthed a new nationwide modus operandi of using movers and packers to transport narcotics across sources said Dhoke, 34, was supposed to deliver the bank manager's belongings to the official's new address in Nagpur. However, Dhoke's driver took a detour of about 250 km to pick up the consignment from Pradhan, who was waiting at a location on the Sambalpur highway. The driver had been promised Rs 1,000 per kg ganja or Rs1 lakh as his share in was supposed to deliver to consignment to Palash Wankhede. He managed to keep the tightly packed, dried marijuana herbs in a few sacks under the bank manager's household belongings, furniture, beds, and electronic gadgets. Wankhede is now behind bars along with managed to dodge numerous checkpoints, nakabandis, toll nakas, RTO check posts, and highway police by furnishing the receipt of the payment made by the bank manager for shifting his belongings from the Odisha-West Bengal border to an interior village of Odisha, and then to Nagpur in Maharashtra via Raipur in from Kalamna police told ToI that Dhoke was working for Wankhede for quite some time but has refused to reveal further details during interrogation.(With ToI inputs)
Time of India
08-06-2025
- Time of India
Packers and movers transported ganja from Odisha to Nagpur in bank manager's household goods
Nagpur: The ongoing investigation into the seizure of 108kg marijuana, or ganja, worth Rs27 lakh last week led to a shocking revelation. A packers-and-movers transporter, Avinash Dhoke (34), had brought the narcotics consignment concealed in the household goods of an innocent bank manager, who had been transferred from Odisha to Nagpur. The narcotics consignment, intercepted by Kalamna police after a dramatic chase on June 3, has hit the bank manager's shifting plan, as his household goods have been impounded as evidence. However, the cops have promised to legally sort out the issue as far as possible. The case resurfaced on Saturday after a Kalamna police team, led by senior inspector Praveen Kale under Zonal DCP Niketan Kadam, travelled almost 700km from Nagpur to a remote Odisha village to nab the key supplier, Bulbul Pradhan, alias 'WhatsApp Bhai', after waiting in a trap for more than 24 hours. Pradhan belongs to a family of notorious drug mafia. His elder brother is part of an interstate racket with a nationwide network. The mission to bust the drug cartel was undertaken under Nagpur CP Ravinder Singal's flagship crackdown on narcotics 'Operation Thunder', which has unearthed a new nationwide modus operandi of using movers and packers to transport narcotics across India. Sources said that Dhoke was supposed to deliver the bank manager's belongings to the official's new address in Nagpur. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo Dhoke's driver took a detour of almost 250km to pick up the consignment of 108kg ganja from Pradhan, who was waiting at a location on the Sambalpur highway. The driver had been promised Rs1,000 per kg ganja or Rs1 lakh as his share in profits. Dhoke, who was supposed to deliver the consignment of ganja to Palash Wankhede, managed to keep the tightly packed, dried marijuana herbs in a few sacks under the bank manager's household belongings, furniture, beds, electronic gadgets, and so on. Wankhede is now behind bars along with Dhoke. Kale said that Dhoke managed to dodge numerous checkpoints, nakabandis, toll nakas, RTO check posts, and highway police by furnishing the receipt of the payment made by the innocent bank manager for shifting his belongings from the Odisha-West Bengal border to an interior village of Odisha, and then to Nagpur in Maharashtra via Raipur in Chhattisgarh. "It is a shocking modus operandi that packers and movers are transporting narcotics with the belongings of their innocent clients. The Kalamna police team, led by sub-inspector Santosh Kumar Ramlod, could identify, chase, and intercept the vehicle because we had specific input and did not stop even after seeing household belongings in it. We offloaded every luggage to search the vehicle before managing to lay our hands on it," said Kale. Sources from Kalamna police said Dhoke was working for Wankhede for quite some time but has refused to reveal further details during interrogation. The cops are now engaged in gathering technical and electronic evidence for further backward and forward linkages.
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Pune airport plans time bound entry system to curb congestion
Pune: The Pune airport will soon implement a time-based pick-up and drop-off system for private vehicles to curb congestion on the premises. Vehicles flouting the rule will be penalised, authorities said. "Many private vehicles are parked along the arrival and departure areas for an extended period, resulting in congestion. Although there are four to five wardens on the premises to manage the traffic, we need to manage the situation," Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke told TOI. Under this system, the entry of all vehicles will be timed, and the same will be checked upon exit. "If it is found that the timing exceeds the stipulated period, a fine will be imposed. However, we are yet to decide on the timing and the fines. This system is already in place at many airports," Dhoke said. AeroMall's vice president, YS Rajput, confirmed the problem. "We have our wardens stationed at the airport to streamline the traffic. However, on average, we are charging a penalty of Rs500 to at least 10 people as a last resort daily. Many people enter the airport under the pretext of dropping off or picking up flyers and park their cars for a long time. As per the existing system, we impose fines on vehicles that do not have a driver present. Many cars have a person sitting in the driver's seat, claiming they will move soon, but don't. The wardens have been directed to levy a fine only during peak hours to manage the traffic," Rajput told TOI. Back in 2019, the airport had a time-bound system, under which any car found waiting on the premises for more than three minutes was fined Rs340. Before this, until 2016, car owners had to ensure they left the airport premises within seven minutes, failing which they were fined Rs85. At present, commercial vehicles like cabs are only allowed to drop passengers at the airport and no pick-up are allowed. Private vehicles are allowed to enter the premises for both pick-ups and drop-offs. Prantosh Singhal, a regular flyer who lives in Koregaon Park, said the matter needed urgent attention. "In late evening, many cars are lined up in almost all lanes. It simply increases the chaos. People walking towards the AeroMall or the cab pick-up area have to bear the brunt. Besides, vehicles are also lined up all along the New Airport Road and Symbiosis College Road. I wonder why these vehicles can't spend some money and park at the Aeromall?" Singhal said. Nishith Patil, a Kharadi resident who flew from Delhi recently, said, "We waited for the bus for around 8-10 minutes as even the bus lane was occupied by some cars. The old building had a system to address the problem, and despite criticism, it was a good move and acted as a deterrent. The authorities should carefully calculate the timing and fix it so that the fine levied is rightful and can't be questioned," the business professional said.
Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Pune Airport beats own record with 212 flight ops in single day
On Sunday, June 1, Pune Airport set a new record of handling a total 212 flight operations in a single day, outdoing its own previous record of handling 208 flight operations in a single day on January 12 this year. This landmark figure included 106 departures and 106 arrivals, with over 36,000 passengers passing through the airport in a single day as they headed to both domestic and international destinations. Airport director Santosh Dhoke expressed enthusiasm over the development saying, 'The overall flight operations on Sunday were executed smoothly. This is a very positive sign for us, indicating the steady growth of air traffic movement at Pune Airport. It is the highest number of flight movements recorded in a single day in our history, and it reflects the growing connectivity and demand among passengers. With 35 domestic and three international destinations currently linked to Pune - including two flights to Dubai, two to Bangkok, and one to Singapore, the city is becoming a significant aviation hub.' Dhoke emphasised that the operations were conducted efficiently without any major issues or delays, contributing to a seamless travel experience for passengers. 'There was no hassle and no operational constraints, and flight delays were minimal. We are optimistic that this number will continue to rise in the near future, especially as more destinations get connected and the frequency of flights increases,' he said. According to information shared by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Pune, the flight operations were conducted smoothly throughout the day from the Lohegaon-based Pune Airport. A total of 212 flights operated to and from 35 domestic and three international destinations. Of these, 106 flights arrived in Pune from major cities such as Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and others, bringing in more than 18,000 passengers. The remaining 106 flights departed to various locations, carrying over 18,000 passengers to their respective destinations in India and abroad. Rohit Varma, an information technology (IT) professional and frequent flyer headed to Bengaluru, said, 'I travel frequently for work, and I've seen how Pune Airport has evolved over the past few years. But what I experienced on Sunday was truly impressive. Despite the large number of flights, the check-in process was smooth, security lines were well managed, and there were no delays. It was surprising to see so many flights operating seamlessly in one day. The addition of more destinations and international connections like Dubai and Singapore is a big plus for business travellers like me. It saves time and eliminates the need to travel to Mumbai for certain flights. Pune is definitely stepping up as a major travel hub.'
