Violation of norms around aerodrome, domestic airport: Unfortunate, there is no concern for safety of frequent flyers, says Bombay HC

Meanwhile, the court also stayed the working of the committee, which was supposed to be headed by a retired High Court judge to examine allegations of violations of building and height regulations as alleged in a public interest litigation filed by advocate Yashwant Shenoy.

The court had earlier given directions for such a committee to be formed and was informed Monday that it was still not operational. The committee was supposed to include a representative from the civil aviation ministry not below the rank of joint secretary, a BMC official not below the rank of joint commissioner and an official from the Airports Authority of India along with an expert from the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Appearing for the Union of India, Rajiv Chavan informed the court that no expert was available from the civil aviation organisation and sought orders to begin the functioning of the committee without the expert.

“There is no progress made so far. Even after the lapse of a year, committee has not started functioning,” said the High Court. With several lawyers, appearing for various parties including builders, raising the issue of ensuring proper calculation of the height of such buildings, Justice Kanade said the matter should be looked at while keeping the larger public interest in mind. “In case there is any violation, it has to be removed immediately,” said Justice Kanade.

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The court also questioned the Mumbai International Airport Limited, asking the organisation what it was doing in terms of removing such obstructions. The MIAL informed the court it was issuing notices in case of such height violations but could not carry out demolition in such cases. The counsel appearing for the Airports Authority of India left while the hearing was on to attend to another case. Denouncing such behaviour, the bench issued a showcause against the AAI chairman and asked him to file a reply in this regard.