Centre's reply sought over ban on mosquito spray in flights

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday sought reply from the central government over spraying mosquito disinfectants with passengers on board, after an airline IndiGo moved a fresh plea.

IndiGo has challenged the NGT's 2015 order to Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that puts blanket ban on the fumigation inside the plane if any person is inside.

On Monday, a bench headed by Justice Jawad Rahim issued notice seeking details from the concerned departments, including the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Director General of civil Aviation (DGCA) and others.

The budget airline has observed mosquito menace at many airports which include Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna, Guwahati, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Dehradun and Bhubaneswar.

In its plea, the airline pointed out the possibility of growing cases of dengue and malaria with the onset of monsoon and said it was unable to take appropriate steps to avoid the menace due to the NGT ban of fumigation inside the aircraft with people aboard.

The airline said many passengers also complained about the mosquito menace.

--IANS

kd/pgh/vt