One has heard of bird hits at
airports and the odd drunk man slipping through security and ambling along on
the runaway. But this being Goa, there has to be a twist. Flight operations at
the Dabolim International Airport were affected on Sunday due to stray dogs
roaming on the runway. An Air Asia flight had to abort its take-off according
to the Indian Navy, in a statement it released. The Airport Authority of India,
however, denied any such incident.
The Air Asia flight 778 from Goa to
Delhi had to abort take-off after Air Traffic Control officials spotted stray
dogs on the runway, an Indian Navy spokesperson said. “The pilot was
immediately informed, after which the take-off was aborted. The aircraft took
off on a subsequent attempt,” the spokesperson said. The airport operates from
the INS Hansa naval base, a defence facility where security is tight and where
passengers are advised against taking photographs. Then you have these dogs.
How did they slip in?
When Gagan Malik, Airport Manager,
was contacted, he said it was not the problem of the AAI but one that needed to
be tackled by the Navy. He said it was their job and they would issue a statement.
That was that. Earlier on August 13, an Air India flight had to abort a landing
attempt due to a similar problem involving stray dogs on the runaway.
The public relations officer of the
Navy, Shashank Sathe, in a statement said, “The increase in rampant throwing of
garbage outside the airport and areas around Dabolim-Bogmalo has resulted in
increase in dog and bird menace at airports, which is seriously impinging the
safety of passengers. The Navy has sent frequent requests to panchayats to look
into the matter. Under an MOU, Navy with Department of Animal Husbandry, an NGO
World Veterinary Services has already commenced removing and relocating 60 dogs
over the last fortnight.” He expressed the hope that the situation would
improve in the future with the locals near the airport taxi operators and others
dispose off their garbage responsibly.
The residents of Vasco had very
strong opinions on the issue. Atul Jadhav, a former President of the Goa Barge
Owners Association, felt the root of the problem was the garbage issue. He said,
“The garbage problem has increased over a period of time. The number of dogs
has increased as well and you have to remember the airport area is vast. The
slums around the airport have also increased, thus leading to this problem.
Garbage has to be managed properly otherwise these kinds of ridiculous
situations will continue. Who would ever imagine dogs running around in a
defence facility, delaying aircrafts?”
Carlos Almeida, who represents
Vasco, was also quite trenchant in his views. He said, “There are many issues
that need to be tackled with regard to waste. There are many stalls and shops
close to the airport. We don’t know how they dispose the garbage they generate.
This of course is of much interest to birds and dogs. You have to also
understand there are fruit-bearing trees in the vicinity of the airport. What
is needed is better coordination between the local administration and the local
parties to ensure the problem is sorted out. People have to coordinate. The NGO
People for Animals has a shelter close to the airport. It has to be sorted out
fast.” He conceded that the dog menace was worse than the bird menace, which is
a perennial problem at Dabolim and other airports in the country.
A long-time resident of Vasco,
Rajesh Sethi said the problem was that the dogs were being sterilised and left
in the same place instead of being shifted out. Houses near the airport did not
have their garbage collected. He said the village at Bogmalo was looked after
by the Navy but it had no system of garbage collection. Which, he said would
lead to dogs turning up on the runaway. A system was the need of the hour and
it needed to be implemented and then all these problems would disappear.
