February 07, 2007	Wednesday	Muharram 18, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 6: Huge billboards, multi-storey buildings, power pylons and the sky-high Base Transreceiver Station (BTS) towers of different cell phone companies in the vicinity of Islamabad International Airport have become a security hazard not only to the air traffic but also to the life of the area people, a source in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told Dawn on Tuesday.

All these structures defy the Height Limitation Regulations of 1994 and the Special Control Building Regulations of 1992 which outlaw the construction of any structure higher than 30 feet within a radius of 15 kilometers of the airport.

According to the rules no construction should be allowed in the buffer strip, the area 200 feet from the centre of the service road which starts from Gulzar-i-Quaid and ends at the airport building. However, one can see a long line of residential and commercial buildings built at a distance of 45 feet from the centre of the road.

The source said Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the CAA were responsible for the illegal constructions around the airport and along the airport link road.

The source feared that these high structures, especially the BTS towers might lead to some air traffic accident.

When this correspondent contacted the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) spokesman Air Commodore Sarfaraz to seek his views in this regard, he said the CAA was responsible for checking the construction of any kind of structures which could create problems for the air traffic.

The CAA Senior Estate Officer Javed Khan said it was a responsibility of the RDA to check or demolish such illegal structures around the airport. We have taken notice of such structures in the vicinity of the airport and a sent a report to the city district nazim in this regard, he said.

According to the RDA and CAA rules no neon sign, advertisement or signboards of any kind could be installed on either side of the link road and service road without approval of a committee formed to approve or reject site plans of the buildings in the area. But one can see huge signboards erected along the service road without approval of the authority. The height of the BTS towers and power poles is stated to be over 100 to 150 feet.

The source said that the land for the airport link road had been acquired by the CDA, however, after constructing the road the CDA had handed it over to the RDA.