By IANS,
New Delhi : Concerned over encroachment of airport lands and the imminent threat it posed to aircraft movement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – the aviation industry regulator – Thursday said it alone cannot act as a watchdog to such manmade obstacles.
“Other agencies involved in managing of airports would also have to chip in,” DGCA director general Kanu Gohain said here.
“DGCA as a regulator should actually oversee issues concerning aviation sector. We cannot keep finding faults everywhere,” he added.
Gohain told delegates at an international conference on Indian airports that a strict regulation was needed to create free space around airports.
“The aviation sector is growing rapidly. We cannot act like inefficient bodies and let encroachments at airports continue. Tough measures have to be adopted if we want to have world class airports,” said Gohain.
In July 2003, the Rajya Sabha had approved the Airports Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2003, which sought to establish an airport appellate tribunal to deal with cases of encroachment at airports.
“This was meant to check encroachment in and around airports. But it has not been of much help to us,” said a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official.
Around 276 acres of land around Mumbai airports is under encroachment.
Of the total 400 airports in India, most of the lands meant for airport are either encroached or have high population density around the area.
An AAI official said there isn’t enough space for passengers to move about freely, and worse, inadequate and antiquated infrastructure is causing “traffic jams” in the sky.
“Aeroplanes have to circle over airports for several minutes before finding a landing slot,” said the AAI official.
“Flights between Delhi and Mumbai, which used to take 95 minutes before 2003, now take at least two hours,” the official said.
“This is endemic to almost every major airport in the country, and is leading to a 5-20 percent increase in flight time and resulting in additional fuel consumption and increased maintenance costs,” he said.
According to him, the aviation industry loses around Rs.3.2 billion every year because of flight delays due to congestion.