Garbage cleared regularly from around airport: BMC tells court

The Bombay high court was on Wednesday informed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation that all steps are being taken to ensure that garbage is collected regularly from the 2,694 notified collection spots within a 10-km radius of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport to curb instances of birds hitting airplanes.

Birds get drawn to waste in the vicinity of the airport and run the risk of colliding with planes.

A detailed affidavit filed by the civic body states that garbage is being collected from the spots in shifts every day. Furthermore, a proposal is being mooted for using fibre-reinforced plastic on garbage bins which will keep the waste containers closed and reduce spillover.

The civic body also claimed that it is considering cleaning open drains every month instead of just before the monsoons, as is done currently, to make sure that birds are not attracted to the drains.

To ensure nuisance creators are fined on the spot. Civic personnel are being given powers to levy fines from those found throwing garbage in areas other than the notified ones. The affidavit also states that all hotels, restaurants and hawkers have been directed to segregate the garbage for easy disposal. A list of hotels and chicken and mutton shops within a 10-km radius of the airport has been submitted to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to facilitate action under the prescribed laws.

The corporation was asked by the high court earlier to come up with a scheme for garbage management within the perimeter of the airport area. The court had observed that bird strikes pose a serious threat to aircraft movements and the lives of thousands of fliers."

The court was acting on a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Datta Mane. The petitioner has stated that inaction on the part of the civic body to keep the vicinity of the airport clean compelled him to approach the court.
According to data available with the air traffic control, 65 cases of bird hits were reported till August during 2013-14 as against 52 cases during 2012-13.

The court had told the civic body to formulate the scheme relying on Rule 91 of the Indian Aircraft Act and the Development Control Rule 33. As per these provisions, it is the responsibility of the civic body to ensure that garbage is not accumulated around an airport.