more-in Making No Objection Certificate (NOC) mandatory for constructions in Red Zone of the Colour Coded Zoning Map (CCZM) for airports is for safeguarding aircraft operations to/from the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has said. An aircraft that is coming to land will commence its descent from its cruising height of 35,000 ft at around 120 nautical miles from the airport. If the aircraft is landing from the Vallakadvu side, it has to align to the centre line of the runway at about 14 km from the beginning of the runway over Vizhinjam and over Kazhakuttam if it is landing from the Veli side. As the aircraft will be descending to a low altitude for landing, Airport Director George G. Tharakan said it was important to give a path free of obstacles for safety of aircraft. Similarly, an obstacle-free path has to be given for aircraft taking-off and approaching aircraft requiring to circle aerodrome. Precise signal Aircraft of Flying Club and Air Force, used for training pilots, and those in emergency also fly at very low heights. “Any construction in these paths will be dangerous for aircraft as well as the residents of the area. Issuing of NOC is for regulating the height of buildings to a safe level without affecting safe aircraft operations,” the Airport Director said. The airport handles 110 aircraft movements a day. For safe and precise landing, aircraft make use of Instrument landing System (ILS) that works on the line-of-sight principle and signal area has to be free of obstructions for providing precise signal to the aircraft. The Area Control Centre, which manages 400 over-flying aircraft, depends on the DVOR and the RADAR for their navigation. These navigation and surveillance equipment installed at airport need obstruction-free surroundings for transmitting electromagnetic waves to the aircraft and receiving communication from the aircraft. The Airport Director said NOC for height clearance was issued by the AAI as per the Ministry of Civil Aviation Gazette notification and amendments. The notification mandated the requirement of NOC from the AAI for construction of any building within 20 km of Aerodrome Reference Point (ARP) of the airport. Revised this year To help people and to reduce the workload of Llocal, municipal or town planning, and development authorities of the State government, the AAI prepared and issued a CCZM for all airports in July 2016, which was subsequently revised in June 2018. Until then, NOC from the AAI was mandatory for all the constructions within 20 km of ARP of the airport. Now, the authorities are empowered to approve the constructions as per their own building regulations/bye-laws up to the Permissible Top Elevations (PTE) mentioned in the CCZM. For any constructions rising above the PTE mentioned in CCZM, NOC is required from the AAI. For the Red Coloured Zone of the CCZM, it is mandatory to obtain NOC from the AAI irrespective of the structure height. Online application Application for NOC can be submitted through the AAI’s online application system ‘No Objection Certificate Application System (NOCAS)’. NOCAS is accessible from AAI website http://www.aai.aero or through the URL http://nocas2.aai.aero/nocas. The NOC will be issued within 15 days of successful submission. The Airport Director said the AAI had decided to review the NOC applications for constructed buildings that have exceeded the PTE as per the decision taken at the meeting convened by the Chief Secretary. The AAI has drastically reduced the lateral limits of the Red Zone in the revised CCZM effective from June 1.

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