Surat: The Surat airport authorities have admitted to having committed a mistake by not informing the forest department about the two fox carcasses found on the runway and disposing them off in December last year.
In a letter obtained under Right to Information (RTI) Act, airport authorities had written to the forest department on June 9 stating that they had informed about the fox carcasses to higher authorities in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), but mistakenly forgot to inform the forest department as per the Wildlife Act, 1972. The authorities have ensured that they will share all the information related to wildlife in the airport premises with the forest department in the future.
Airport authorities have further stated that the fox carcasses had to be disposed of immediately by the airport staff to ensure smooth movement of the aircraft on the runway. The pilot of the Udaipur-Surat flight had informed the air traffic control (ATC) on sighting of foreign object debris (FOD) on the runway while landing at 8pm on December 19, 2019.
A team of airport staff that had reached the spot had found the carcasses of two dead foxes badly crushed. For the safety of the aircraft landing on the runway, the carcasses were immediately disposed of, stated airport authorities.
Talking with TOI, deputy conservator of forest (Surat), Puneet Nayyar said, “Disposing fox carcasses without informing the forest department is a violation of the Wildlife Act, 1972. We have recorded the statement of a few officials involved in the disposing the carcasses. Without the evidence, we are unable to investigate further.”
Nayyar added, “Our officer is regularly attending the Airport Advisory Committee meeting every month. We are ready to help and train the airport staff in handling the wildlife animals inside the premises. Earlier, we had caged about three jackals from the airport premises in 2019.”