Delhi Airport: Giant Shiva, Buddha worry pilots

New Delhi: After the giant statue of Shiva, a 50-feet Buddha statue is all set to move in to the Delhi Airport's neighbourhood.

The new statue, just a kilometre away from the runway, is expected to create problems for flights taking off or landing. The other one (of Shiva) has already rendered one-third of Runway 29-11 - inaugurated last year as one of Asia's longest tarmacs - useless.

The Buddha statue is going to come up at a park near the airport. The park management should have taken permission from the Airport Authority of India before construction, but it was not done.

"I don't think a No Objection Certificate (NOC) will be issued in this case, these structures have to meet certain safety requirements. In case something goes wrong, and there is an enquiry committee, no one would like to take the responsibility," says Group Captain Mehta, advisor to the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

"Planes cannot land from that direction, so a percentage of operation is affected," says Kanu Gohain, former member, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

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Both the AAI and the park management refuse to speak on the statues, but it is clear that there will be two more statues in this park within the next year-and-a half.

If the statues are allowed to take off, the airport's plans to use this runway fully will certainly be grounded.

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