PATNA: In a fresh initiative to make the Patna airport safer, the Bihar government has made a move to get a part of the city zoo de-notified so as to cut or prune 3700-odd trees in a triangular area of 17 acres.
Principal secretary (cabinet secretariat) Afzal Amanullah has written a letter to the principal secretary, environment and forest department, in this regard. “We need to plant small plants of rose etc in their place,” the letter, sent on Tuesday, said.
The cabinet secretariat has also asked the forest and environment department to expedite the ongoing process of pruning another 249 trees inside the zoo. “This is also necessary according to the observations of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),” the letter said.
The DGCA has threatened to declare the airport unsuitable for big aircraft operations from September 1 if obstacles in the approach funnel are not cleared. Besides the trees in the zoo, the obstacles include the main secretariat tower. Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials want the tower to be lowered by 11.5 metres.
The electric and light poles on the Peer Ali Road and Sri Krishna Singh Road have also been identified as obstacles. The state government has already activated the Patna Electricity Supply Undertaking officials to do the needful in this regard.
Some hoardings and buildings on the north-eastern portion adjacent to the airport have also been identified as obstructions in the approach funnel. So have been the heavy vehicles with a height of over two metres which ply on the road between Chitkohara overbridge roundabout and the airport entrance. Further, some buildings and mobile phone towers in the southwest portion near the airport have also been termed by aviation authorities as dangerous to flight movement.
The railway cabin and the high tension electric lines over the railway tracks also need to be removed.
The cabinet secretariat is monitoring the overall progress of work to make the flight movement safer as required by the aviation authorities. Upendra Kumar, joint secretary in the secretariat, has been made the nodal officer for coordination with various departments concerned.
A two-member AAI team from Delhi is in Patna, and on Tuesday it demarcated the three points that will enclose the area in the zoo which has to be de-notified. Patel Chowk is the first point while the second point lies along the road adjacent to the airport. The third point is between the zoo’s gate number 2 and Rajbhavan. “We will complete the process of enumerating the trees in this triangular area in a day or two,” said zoo director Abhay Kumar.