Your Q, His A

Birds abound in the proximity of population centres and where animal life abounds. The Indian Air Force has adopted a scientific approach to bird menace since 1978, involving scientists and experts from the Bombay Natural History Society. Precautions have been built into procedures and planning.

Over the years there has been a substantive reduction in the incidence of bird strikes. The problem, though, is complex. Our population has trebled in the past five decades and urban centres have expanded, sometimes almost enveloping airfields. With them bird population has grown.

Urban centres have expanded but civic amenities, especially for garbage and waste disposal, have hardly kept pace. Slaughterhouses throw up a tremendous amount of waste which especially attract the larger size carrion birds. Legislation requires that there should be no slaughterhouse within the vicinity of airfields. But rarely have these laws been enforced. Air traffic zone around airfields have expanded manifold. The biggest challenge comes from birds like vultures and kites. But our laws do not permit the killing of vultures since they are protected birds.

Measures that could be taken without eliminating birds have remained bogged down because of the multiplicity of government departments 8212; from central to state governments and municipal and panchayat authorities being involved in any coherent action. The Public Accounts Committee last month expressed regret at lack of action by inter-ministerial committees despite crores being sanctioned which remained unspent for over a decade.

8226; What do you think is the purpose of George Fernandes8217;s visit to Tajikistan?

WE have many common strategic and security interests with the countries of Central Asia. Tajikistan in particular has been at the frontline of transnational terrorism emanating from Afghanistan under the Taliban8217;s rebel regime. Tajikistan was also the conduit for humanitarian and security related assistance that India could provide to Afghanistan8217;s legitimate regime that was recognised by the international community with the exception of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

With the removal of Taliban and the installation of the Hamid Karzai interim administration, the need for reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan and peace and stability in the region is a priority. This requires the neighbourhood to the north being supported. Tajikistan has a crucial role to play in this process. Issues like terrorism, drug trafficking, flow of illegal weapons and jehadi militants are a common threat requiring international co-operation. Tajikistan itself needs help in training of security personnel.

8226; George Fernandes is defence minister as well as the NDA Convenor. In his former role, he8217;s in Siachen one day, in his latter role, he8217;s in Gujarat the other day. Is he being able to devote sufficient time to both?

OUR defence policy has suffered in the past because a full time defence minister was not in place for large parts of the time. So in principle, you are right, except that the degree of demands on the time and effort for political activities compared to that spent on his responsibilities as the defence minister would be the criteria for any judgement. There is no evidence that George Fernandes8217;s two responsibilities are in any way clashing.

The dual responsibility has been an advantage for the defence establishment. It is likely that his position as the NDA convenor and the trouble-shooter for the prime minister has helped him to get more money for defence than what the procedures and intrinsically slow decision making would allow to be spent!

Fernandes8217;s supporters would probably say that few, if any, defence minister since the days of YB Chavan have devoted so much attention to defence policy and building capacity for the future as much as he has.

8226; Officials say reports of the Army8217;s use of civilians as shields to clear mines in the Valley are false. Your views?

ANY one who has had any contact with our defence establishment would know that the defence forces do not target even civilians of the enemy country, leave alone place our own civilians in danger. The Army did not even use Pakistani PoWs as human shields in 1971 war and took casualties instead. They even buried the Pakistani soldiers killed in Kargil that their own country refused to take back to pretend their army was not involved.

Land mines laid in our own territory would be fully mapped and their removal would be fully planned and would not require involvement of civilians in any way.