After a year of dilly-dallying, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has decided to conduct a safety assessment of the minar of a mosque at Santa Cruz later this month. The minar poses grave hazard to flight operations as it protrudes dangerously in the glide path of both Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) and Juhu airport.
In its January 5 edition last year, dna had first reported about the safety harzard posed by the minar which stands next to BEST bus depot in Santa Cruz (West). The structure is an obstacle to runway 09 of CSIA and runway 34 of Juhu airport, airport sources said.
"Finally, something is expected to be done about the issue, after being on the back-burner for so long," said a senior AAI official, having direct knowledge about the development.
The matter, in fact, was taken up by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which asked the AAI to take urgent remedial measures as the minar could lead to a tragedy. The order by the Ministry of Home Affairs, under which IB functions, came in the backdrop of the apparent negligence of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
AAI officials said that the audit was first planned in April. However, due to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, it was postponed. The safety audit will be part of the proposed plan of construction of the FATO (Final Approach and Take Off) on the secondary runway. Pilots of the aircraft operating from Juhu airport will also be asked to give their views on it, as they were the ones who first took up the matter with DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), sources said.
AAI and DGCA sources said that action against the minar has been kept hanging due to the sensitivity of the matter — it's a religious structure and as such any action around the elections could have political implications.