Birsa Munda Airport authorities have swung into action to tighten security arrangements on the runway after a dog almost threatened the lives of air passengers here on Sunday.
Airport authorities spotted a dog roaming in the campus at around 4 pm as they were preparing the runway for landing of an IndiGo plane. Officials claimed that the incident did not affect the operations at the airport. "There is no boundary wall in the east side of the airport. That portion is fenced by wire. So we suspect that the dog would have entered from that side. Yet, we are not certain about the dog's entry point. I have faxed a report to the head office in this regard," said Airport Director Anil Vikram.
Airport authorities said that now more guards will be hired to man the loosely protected area to prevent entry of stray animals into the airport premises. Approval to move ahead on the proposal has been sought by local authorities to knock the doors of Directorate General of Resettlement to hire six guards to cover a small portion of the airport. Covering the fenced area with corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets is also among the proposals to reduce animal interference to the flights operating from airport.
"We will hire six guards who will be deployed in three shifts to patrol the area. Two guards will be deployed in each shift. Replacing barbed wire with CGI sheet is a big project so it would take time," maintained the Airport Director.
Amid ever-increasing security concerns, a private agency would also be engaged to scare away birds to avoid threat to airborne planes. As a final nod is awaited from the Regional Executive Director of Airports Authority of India based in Kolkata, the agency is likely to be named in about a fortnight and efforts to mitigate the threat would begin in two months. "The file is in final stage. We have sent it back with minor adjustments, so it will take around 15 days to complete the process. The agency would begin work in about two months," he added.
The proposal includes installing zone guns which will scare away birds by producing gun fire sounds at regular intervals. Incidentally, the airport earned a bad name because of security concerns and came under the scanner because of incidents of tire bursts on the runway recently.