DIAL builds sound barriers at IGI Airport to curb noise pollution

NEW DELHI: Following directions by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) submitted a detailed report on the actions taken by the agencies to reduce noise pollution in the vicinity of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. As per the report, DIAL has built a new sound barrier near the 29/11 runway to reduce the noise pollution of the aircrafts.

The sound barrier, designed by IIT Delhi, will attenuate aircraft noise generated during braking process shortly after the touchdown in areas beyond the boundary of the international airport. Factors like pilot action during landing, size of the aircraft, type of aircraft, and the overall design of the landing strip also effect the noise that the authorities are trying to regulate.

The report also details about other measures adopted by DIAL in order to comply with the NGT directions. Some of these measures include instructing the pilots to follow a continuous decent approach as per air traffic flow while landing and also ensure that the aircraft descends at a constant angle with minimum thrust resulting in lesser noise generation.

The agency has also banned the operation of civil aircrafts during night. Restrictions have also been imposed on the use of reverse thrust, ground running of aircraft engines and on aircraft auxiliary power unit operations and ground power units’ operation.