Why experts are warning that upcoming Navi Mumbai int'l airport is 'highly dangerous' https://www.wionews.com/india-news/wion-explains-experts-warn-that-upcoming-navi-mumbai-intl-airport-is-highly-dangerous-heres-why-585682 By: Moohita Kaur GargApr 24, 2023 at a distance of 10 kilometres, is the Karnala Bird Sanctuary, home to more than 200 species of birds. Mangroves, mudflats and wetlands that attract migratory birds such as flamingoes, starlings, buntings and rose finches too are in a 10-km radius.
SM Satheesan, an expert in bird strike prevention, warns that the destruction of these birds' natural habitats, like mudflats and wetlands, means that they will more likely stray onto the airport land, where they can find food in the form of insect remains. "The runway offers a place for resting and feeding for birds driven out of their other usual habitats. It becomes a dining table of sorts where birds can find crushed remains of smaller animals, insects and termites," he said.
Environmental activists like Debi Goenka, argue that there are in fact better sites. This includes a 728-hectare (1,800-acre) site near Kalyan city of Kalyan that was originally developed as an airstrip by the British during World War II. "This land was already owned by the Defence Ministry. Moreover, this land already had an airstrip and would have been easier to develop compared to the Navi Mumbai land where mangroves are being reclaimed, wetlands and mudflats are endangered, hills have to be levelled and rivers diverted for constructing the airport," added Goenka.