NATIONAL7Spotlight Weekly)]

Under Control

Incidents of bird-hits decreases thanks to collective efforts taken by the authorities

By KESHAB POUDEL

Is the bird hitting the only problem of Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA)? Or does it also occur in other airports of the world? The global trend shows that it is not an exclusive problem of Nepal.

After few weeks of disruption and hue and cry, the bird-hitting problem, which is temporary by its very nature, has now subsided. The question remains: What have the Nepalese authorities learned from this?

As the population in the valley swells up, so does the generation of waste forcing the airport to face more problems relating to the bird-hitting.

The annual reports of International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) show that the aircraft-bird collision disturbs the air traffic in almost all over the world.

In Nepal, birds have posed as major problem in the agriculture farms in terai as authorities have been struggling to control the damage of food-grains by them.

Bird hazards, experts argue, can be minimized by introducing some simple techniques. "Our experience in terai's farm area has shown that introduction of scare-crow technique is the best remedy. Hanging dead birds in the field also has proved effective deterrent against birds," said Dhruba Narayan Manandhar, an entomologist at Nepal Agriculture Research Center.

In a country which has more than 850 recorded bird species including black kites, eagles and vultures, civil aviation authorities need to conduct a thorough study regarding their behavior and habitats.

With the increase in population, the volume of waste production has multiplied attracting scavengers. Growing number of black kites at Lainchaur, the traditional habitat, shows that the scavengers' population will further grow.

"The recent phenomenon of bird-hitting is temporary since this is a period of migration for the birds and the period when earthworms wriggle out of their underground homes," said Kazi Hari Sharan, a renowned bird expert. "Due to the urbanization and waste production, the number of big birds will increase naturally. TIA has to take long term efforts by conducting studies and behavior of the birds," he said.

Compared to other airports, bird-hitting is a recent phenomenon in Nepal. There is no airport in the world which is free from bird hitting but other airports have effective system to scare away the birds.

ICAO's annual reports show how bird-hitting disrupts the air operation in different parts of the world. Even some major airports of developed countries like United States of America and Israel face the challenge of bird-hitting.

"Israel, which has a huge floating population of migratory birds has been able to tackle the problem to satisfactory level. So, we can also do it by implementing some simple procedures," said Hem Sagar Baral, a bird expert who opposes the move to hire hunters to kill the birds around TIA.

In the period of 1998, more than 80 cases of bird-hitting were officially reported in India. Other SAARC countries also are said to have faced similar problems.

As agriculture sector has effective system to scare away birds, why no efforts have been made to experiment the same tactics at the airport to prevent birds from colliding with the aircraft.

"Series of efforts have already been taken to scare away the birds from coming to the TIA airport. Cleaning the surrounding areas has begun and so has the process to close down dumping sites nearby," said Rajesh Raj Dali, General Manager of Tribhuwan International Airport.

After the four incidents of bird-hits at TIA in two weeks time, there was a panic in the country with many fearing that airlines would close down their operations in Kathmandu.

Although Kathmandu has a large number of resident black kite population, Kathmandu airport had not encountered such hits in the past.

"As this is the time of migration of birds from north to south, the efforts must be taken to maintain the areas surrounding the airport clean," said Baral. "As a preventive measure, scare-crows and crackers can be used."

One of the aircraft also hit the bird on its way to Jomsom from Pokhara, which is said to be another route of bird migration.

If there are food and long open space nearby, birds naturally will be attracted. "Birds' behavior needs to be studied before recommending any steps," said Hathan Chaudhari, another bird watcher.

The bird-hit issue was blown out of proportion as soon as an RNAC Boeing 757 was hit by the bird on its flight to Delhi on September 30. On September 9, a bird hit another Indian Airlines plane and China Southwest Airlines aircraft was hit on October 10.

"Kathmandu has a large number of resident black kite population and addition of new migratory steppe eagles may overcrowd the sky," said Hem Sagar Baral, president of Bird Conservation Nepal. "Dumping site needs to be removed from the peripheral areas of International Airport."

Bird activity at this time of the year is not unusual. TIA officials say that the changing season forces the earthworms to come out of the ground near the runway's grassy patches, providing an easy meal for kites, eagles and other birds. The continued dumping of Kathmandu's garbage on the Bagmati river banks -which is just 500 meters from the airport pose another serious flight safety hazard as it attracts larger birds.

Whenever new tourism season begins, Nepalese tourism sector is mired by different issues directly affecting the tourists arrival. In the last few years, Vikram tempo, stinking garbage, RNAC's problems and airport safety have regularly hit the tourism sector.

"We have already asked civil aviation authority to take necessary steps to control the birds in the airport area," said Jaya Dewan, managing director of Zenith Travel sole agency of Qatar Airways.

A small issue like bird-hitting is now sending wrong message to the world about air safety in Nepal.

This is a migration season and birds move to south from north. On their way across Himalaya, the birds see the airport as a good place for playing.

Golden eagles migrate from Himalaya to Terai. This year the number of migrating eagles is higher than the previous years. As dumping site is close to the airports, migratory birds tend to swing down to in search for food.

Birds like black kites are resident birds of Kathmandu. Due to the large number of earthworms swarming the airport area, they also are crowding above the TIA.

Last year it was the hijacking and suspension of Indian Airlines flight which reduced the number of tourist arrival drastically. Now the bird hitting is scaring the tourists away.

Even after four weeks, the media sees it as scoop news. Cameramen are spending their whole day near TIA to catch the glimpse of birds flying over the airport.