NEW DELHI: Just a week after the fatal plane crash near Ahmedabad airport that claimed 270 lives, a prominent animal rights think-tank has raised fresh concerns over bird and wildlife strikes at the city’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, revealing it ranks third in India for such incidents.According to data sourced from a parliamentary response in December 2023, Ahmedabad recorded 319 bird and wildlife strikes between January 2018 and October 2023, trailing only behind Delhi (710) and Mumbai (352). The findings were released by the People For Animals Public Policy Foundation (PFA PPF), the legal and policy arm of the organisation led by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi.While authorities have not confirmed bird strike as the cause of last week’s crash, and some experts have ruled it out, PFA PPF says the tragedy should serve as a wake-up call. The group revealed that bird strike incidents at the airport surged by 107% in 2023 alone, signalling a sharp deterioration in aviation safety.“We can’t keep calling these tragedies ‘unforeseen’ when the warnings have been clear for years,” said Gauri Maulekhi, Trustee and Member Secretary of the foundation. “Ahmedabad Airport alone had 319 documented incidents, every single one was a red flag.”The foundation has now made a formal representation to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), urging immediate enforcement of Rule 91 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. The rule prohibits the slaughtering of animals, flaying, and dumping of garbage within a 10-kilometre radius of airports, practices known to attract birds and increase collision risks.Despite the ministry of civil aviation acknowledging as early as 2007 that removing meat shops and open garbage dumps near airports could significantly reduce bird strikes, such establishments continue to operate around major airports, including Ahmedabad.“We already have the laws and the data. What we’re missing is accountability and enforcement,” said Mihir Dawar, a policy expert at PFA PPF. “If we’re serious about preventing more tragedies like this, we need to act now.”Nationally, bird and wildlife strikes have surged from 167 in 2006 to 1,125 in 2022, far exceeding the safety thresholds set by the ministry.With the Ahmedabad crash still under investigation, PFA PPF says it’s time to stop treating these incidents as isolated, and start treating them as systemic failures.