Ahmedabad plane crash eye-opener for Navi Mumbai airport: Activist

Mumbai: The Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad has brought back focus on the "illegal" meat shops near the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), which is likely to commence operations from August, according to an environment activist.

These establishments continue to do business despite an advisory from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to stop it, he claimed.

Two domestic carriers -- IndiGo and Aksa Air-- have already announced they will shift part of their operations to the greenfield airport in Navi Mumbai once it becomes functional.

The Navi Mumbai Airport is being developed by a special purpose vehicle, NMIAL, which is a 74:26 joint venture between Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) and City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO).

NatConnect, an NGO which has been raising concern over the slaughter and open sale of meat at Ulwe, barely in three km radius from the Navi Mumbai International Airport runway, has again flagged the issue.

It has requested the DGCA to take up this issue seriously with local authorities as the slaughter attracts big birds, such as kites, which can pose threats to the aircraft operations, NatConnect director B N Kumar said in a statement.

An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers, including 12 crew members, crashed in the Meghaninangar area of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff from the international airport there on Thursday afternoon, killing 270 persons, including 241 on board the aircraft.

While the investigation into the crash is still going on, a bird strike is also being speculated as one the probable causes of the accident.

On an earlier complaint, Kumar said, the aviation safety regulator had said "the aerodrome operator has been advised to act against the slaughter that can attract birds".

But there has been no action against the illegal slaughter of animals and the open sale of mutton and chicken, he alleged.

Recently, the Aeronautical Information Service (AIS), managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), has issued a NOTAM -Notice To Airmen - list pertaining to "lack of operational readiness" of Navi Mumbai International Airport, the statement said.

"But, the issue pertaining to the illegal slaughter within the three km radius is missing from the NOTAM list," it claimed.

The NOTAM list has mentioned the absence of landing and take-off routes and presence of 225 obstacles, including 86 buildings, 79 hilltops, 23 power transmission towers, 12 mobile towers and eight floodlight poles, it said.

The Maharashtra government, which appointed the Aerodrome Environment Monitoring Committee (AEMC) under the chairmanship of CIDCO, has clearly stipulated in its order that slaughter within a 10-km radius is prohibited, the statement said.

Kumar said when he took up the issue with the AAI, he was informed that the matter has been referred to the "authorities concerned" at the Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL).

The City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), which administers Ulwe, has also not taken any action, he said.

"We have drawn the attention of CIDCO's chief vigilance officer over such a grave lapse (10-km radius norm)," he added.