With bird hits emerging as a persistent challenge for flights arriving at Trivandrum International Airport, the Adani Group, which manages the airport, has partnered with the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to address the issue.
Officials have initiated steps to establish a waste rendering plant, seen as a sustainable solution to minimise bird activity near the airport. The proposed facility is expected to tackle the improper waste disposal that attracts birds to the vicinity, thereby enhancing flight safety.
Huge amounts of waste from chicken shops and slaughterhouses are regularly dumped around the runway and the airport vicinity attracting crows and eagles which threaten the flights during landing and take-off. Often, birds hover over the runway and hit the flights, and pilots and airline companies have long flagged the issue.
Dr Sreerag, a veterinary surgeon working for the city administration, told DhanamOnline that the slaughterhouse waste dumped in the vicinity of the airport required serious attention. "The waste rendering plant will come up at Muttathara, a stone’s throw away from the airport. The waste
collected from the slaughterhouses will be rendered into animal feed."
The construction cost would be about Rs 3.5 crore and the annual running cost would be
Rs. 3 crore. The plant would process 3 tonnes of waste a day. The construction was expected to begin in a few months, Dr Sreerag added.
Speaking to DhanamOnline, the airport officials noted that bird-hits were not a problem exclusive to the Trivandrum airport. "All airports in the country face this issue. But in Trivandrum, the problem is worse because there are around 20 chicken shops and slaughterhouses operating illegally in the vicinity of the runway. " The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had some time back asked the Kerala government to take steps to check the menace.
