Comments
The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday directed the Ministry of Civil Aviation and aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation to mull over the possibility of providing incentives to pilots who create least noise pollution while landing aircraft at IGI Airport here.
“What do you (ministry) propose to lessen the noise pollution? Why don’t you consider providing incentives to the pilots who generate least noise pollution while landing at airports? Think of something constructive,” a Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar observed.
It also slammed the government for allowing constructions to come up near the airports and said there should be some limit to development activities close to such places. “Gurgaon, Dwarka, Palam, Vasant Kunj, all these places have come up to the IGI Airport. There has to be some limit,” the Bench said.
The observations came during hearing a plea a batch of pleas filed by the residents of South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, Bijwasan and Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), a super-specialty hospital, seeking directions to reduce noise level in the residential areas near the airport.
Reduction measures
The green panel also asked the Ministry and the DGCA to develop green cover around the area and increase the height of the boundary wall of the airport to minimise sound pollution. It also directed the ministry to submit its views on effective use of “reverse thrust” to decrease noise pollution caused due to operation of flights at the airport.
Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine’s exhaust so that it is directed forward, rather than backwards.
The Bench, however, rejected the contention of the petitioner that there should be sound-proofing of houses near the airport and cost should be borne by the respondents.
The matter is now listed for next hearing on February 23.
The NGT had last directed the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA to provide data on domestic and international flights at the IGI Airport with details of their departure and arrivals.
It had also asked the government to file a note on the mitigating steps taken by it to notify noise-level standards for airport noise zones.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.