The Delhi High Court has agreed to examine a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the rising number of bird and wildlife encounters with aircraft at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. On Wednesday, Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued a notice seeking responses from the Centre, Airports Authority of India, and other relevant authorities within six weeks.
The PIL points out that such interactions are a severe threat not just to the security of the passengers on board an aircraft but also to the people residing near the airport in the event of a crash of an aircraft. As per the petition, from 2018 to 2023, IGI Airport witnessed 705 instances of bird strikes, which is more than the total number of instances of bird strikes at 29 airports in six states.
The petition with the Delhi High Court asserts that the main reason for such repeated bird strikes is the existence of slaughterhouses, butcher shops, dairy farms, and air pollution near the airport. It further states that the Aircraft Rules of 1937 and the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, restrict activities like slaughtering or skinning of animals, or the disposal of any related refuse within a 10 km radius around an aerodrome, as these attract birds and animals.
Even though the causes of such accidents have been recognized, the petition complains that no meaningful steps have been initiated by authorities to mitigate Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH). The PIL demands effective and prompt action to deal with the problem, including the deployment of the Bird Avoidance Model (BAM) at Delhi Airport, which has been missing and has led to major accidents in the past.
PIL was moved by Gauri Maulekhi and is argued through senior advocate Kirtiman Singh, who is aided by advocates Meghna Mishra and Yashodhara Gupta of M/s Karanjawala & Co. The case is listed for the next hearing on May 14.
