Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Bird threat in flight path

Bhubaneswar: The city airport wants to handle more air traffic but is struggling to deal with a pond and open drains nearby that attract birds.

Flocks of birds near the airport pose a threat to flights taking off and landing.

Loknath Padhi, joint general manager (civil engineering), Airports Authority of India, said part of the airport was located in a low-lying area. Therefore, waterlogging during monsoon remains an issue. He said that after repeated pleas from the airports authority, the state government had finally constructed a kuccha drain on the side of the extended runway of the airport. "This has taken care of waterlogging to a large extent. But, construction of a concrete drain is the only permanent solution to the problem," Padhi said.
Yet another problem is lack of a drainage system on the side of the airport that lies near the campus of the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT). Padhi said a pond on the OUAT campus needed to be filled up. "During the rains, the pond overflows and water enters the airport," he said. The concrete wall around the runway had become weak because of the seepage of water. During the monsoon, the pond also attracts flocks of birds.

It had been found that there was no gradient on the Baramunda side of the airport, which necessitates filling up of the pond and construction of a concrete drain.

The AAI has already constructed a culvert on its own land so that the rainwater may flow out. The culvert connects the OUAT pond with the kuccha drain constructed by the state government. Padhi said the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) had agreed to take up the task of filling up the pond.

"We expect the development authority to start work in October as it is nearly impossible to do so during the monsoon," Padhi said.
12/07/16 Sandeep Dwivedy/Telegraph
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