The first regional South Asian conference of the World Birdstrike Association (WBA) will be held in Visakhapatnam from Dec 11 to 13.
The conference, supported by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, will deliberate on the problem of birds and wild animals posing a threat to aircrafts, particularly during landing and take-off of flights, Lalita Vaswani, Vice President of WBA-South Asia and WBA Member Raman Emani told the media here on Wednesday.
They underlined the importance of creating awareness on the issue of bird strike among all stakeholders including farmers, town planners, organisations for the protection of nature and environment, apart from civil aviation authorities, military, aircraft and aerodrome operators at the regional, national and global levels.
The stakeholders or their representatives from various countries would participate in the conference and deliberate on the issue and the measures being taken in their respective countries to tackle the problem. The meeting would provide a platform for exchange of ideas and practices being adopted at various airports across the globe to eliminate or minimise the risks.
Ms. Lalita said that the deliberations made at the conference would be sent to the authorities concerned for implementation. The WBA conference in Mexico in 2014 had decided to strengthen regional cooperation with all stakeholders within a global framework in close cooperation with the national authorities. The Bird Strike Committees of Australia, Central and South America, Europe and North America were already cooperating on a regional level.
Replying to queries, Mr. Raman said that the measures to reduce bird hits include: passive measures like prevention of dumping of wastes in the proximity of airports, not to allow tress close to the airport as they attract birds and keeping the grass low. The active measures include: bird repellents and lasers.
“The water bodies, marshes and trees, close to the airport, provide the perfect setting for birds and other animal species to feed and rest,” he said.
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source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / December 07th, 2017