By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:A nearly 60 feet Puja Pandal has been made just 200 metres from the west dumbbell of the main runway in the glide path of the Biju Patnaik International Airport at Bhubaneswar. The large and high-risestructure is less than 150 meters from the Airport Boundary and less than 100 metres from where the airplanes make their final descent on to the runway. In fact, the landing planes are on the same level as the height of the Pandal.
Anil Dhir has written to the Director of the Biju Patnaik International Airport, stating that the Pandal poses a serious aviation hazard, being in the most vulnerable part of the funnel zone of the Airport. Not just the structural height violation, but the accompanying intrusive laser and strobe lights which will be put up and the massive traffic bottlenecks will endanger flight movement along this critical airport approach zone. Pandal organizers and videographers frequently fly drones to capture aerial footage of the pandals and crowds. Operating unauthorized drones in close proximity to the airport will pose a high risk of mid-air collision with aircraft or ingestion into jet engines.
The most critical risk is temporary pilot blindness, which occurs when powerful light beams strike a descending aircraft’s windshield during the vulnerable landing phase. High-intensity laser beams can enter a cockpit, scatter across the windshield, and cause immediate, temporary blindness or blurred vision. The flights will be at an altitude of only 400 feet, and descending fast to touch down in less than 10 seconds. Any intrusion at this juncture is not only irritating, but hazardous too.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) enforces strict protocols near airport funnels. In 2021, a Durga Puja Pandal in South Dumdum near the Kolkata Airport had affected flight movements due to the lighting system it has employed. The Pandal was a massive 145-foot replica of the Burj Khalifa, built 8.5 km from the runway. Many pilots flying in the landing funnel had lodged urgent complaints with the Air Traffic Control after the strobes severely compromised cockpit visibility. The authorities took action and had to shut down the multi-coloured light shows.
According to Dhir, the BPIA Director had written to the State Government in April this year about the high rise buildings and the mobile towers in the Obstacle Limitation Surface of the airport which posed danger to the approach path of flights and flouted civil aviation height norms, however no steps have been taken by the city administration to remove them. The Airport reports five to six bird strikes every month.
Dhir has earlier too voiced serious concerns of the approach path raised safety alarms. This has been got to the notice of the authorities, but nothing has been done till date. Dhir has requested the authorities to issue guidelines about the height reduction of the Pandal and to stop the usage of festive lights.
