The Bombay High Court, while hearing a PIL challenging the construction of Metro 2B line near Juhu Aerodrome, recently directed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to place on record the safety measures it plans to take for the safety of at least 1,260 flights and 2,500 passengers that use runway 08 of the Aerodrome on an average in a given year.
The court said while the aviation secretary’s report justified the NOC granted by the AAI to the MMRDA for Metro construction, it needed to be assured that such a nod would not pose any risk to fliers or residents of nearby areas.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand S Karnik on June 23 held a hearing on the PIL filed by Harit Desai, a social worker and Juhu resident, challenging the construction of overground Metro 2B corridor (DN Nagar to Mankhurd), passing through Swami Vivekanand (SV) Road in the vicinity of Juhu airport in Mumbai.
The plea had stated that the no objection certificate (NOC) given by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to MMRDA for construction of the Metro corridor did not take into consideration the “potential threat” posed by the overground route passing through an airport’s imaginary “funnel” zone, the approach path of a low-flying aircraft.
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The plea claimed the NOC was in violation of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Height Restrictions for Safeguarding of Aircraft Operations) Rules, 2015.
On January 18, the bench directed the civil aviation secretary to act as its special officer and conduct an independent study by looking into the grievances raised by the petitioner. Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal subsequently submitted his report.
The said report concluded that the height of 16.76 metres above mean sea level (AMSL) granted by the AAI to the MMRDA in May, 2019 is “in accordance with recommendation of the 1978 Joglekar Committee report, the prevailing conditions and duly addresses the safety aspects for aircraft operations as well as the safety concerns of the residents in the vicinity of Juhu Aerodrome.”
Desai, through advocates Nishant Thakkar and Jasmin Amalsadvala, argued that in 2019, there were as many as 1,260 departures averaging almost four a day, which comes to 2,520 fliers per year.
The lawyers added that it is the burden of the aircraft operator to assess the safety while using Runway 08 whereas the rules enjoin upon AAI to control obstacles.
The petitioner raised apprehensions about safety hazards saying that for take-off on Runway 08, the length of 600 metres is available while there are certain types of helicopters which require a runway length of 700 metres.
The bench sought the AAI’s affidavit on safety measures to ensure safe take-offs from Runway 08.
The court also sought details from AAI and another respondent Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on safety norms and precautions to be taken for take-off from Runway 08. It also sought to know the type of aircraft/helicopters that will be permitted to use Runway 08 for take-off along with details of the length required for a full-load take-off.
The bench lastly sought to know the maximum length that can now be earmarked for Runway 08 for a safe take-off as the height of 16.76 metres AMSL has been approved by the AAI for the Metro project.
The HC has set its next date of hearing on the PIL on July 7.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/overground-metro-2b-corridor-bombay-hc-aai-report-measures-safety-fliers-residents-8003805/
