Airports not recording pollution levels yet

MUMBAI: Nearly six months since the aviation safety regulator asked Indian airport operators to record air pollution in their surroundings, none of the airports have adhered to the directive. This was revealed in a response to a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by a Kalina resident.

According to a circular issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in July, every airport was supposed to set up an air quality monitoring station to document emissions within the airport boundary and study its impact on residential neighbourhoods.

Aviation experts claimed that the circular could be hogwash in the wake of an audit by the United Nations aviation watchdog. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had conduct ed an audit in September, barely two month after the circular was issued. “Air quality monitoring at airports is an ICAO requirement and all member states have to adhere to it. Therefore, it seems that the circular was issued to show India’s commitment towards ICAO policies ” said a former secretary with the civil aviation ministry, adding that the circular did not mention that airports would get a year to set up the monitoring stations.

In the RTI response, dated November 13, the DGCA did state that it had allowed airports to monitor pollutants by next year. A Mumbai International Airport Limited spokesperson said the safety regulator had given them time till June 2014 to set up the station. “We have begun the process. It will be operational by June next year.”

DGCA chief Arun Mishra was not available for comment