The government on Monday informed that portions of 15 air routes situated in northern and north-eastern India are not adequately covered by radar surveillance.
According to the minister of state (MoS) for civil aviation Mahesh Sharma, some distance of air routes such as W30, W31, W34, W36, W39, W85, W108 and W104 do not have adequate radar coverage.
"Portions of air routes are not adequately covered by radar due to topographical constraints and high terrain in these areas," Sharma informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply during question hour.
"However, the air traffic control (ATC) system available in the northern and north-eastern region are capable of processing all flights data."
The minister reported that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken steps to install radars at Amritsar and Imphal for enhancing the coverage in these air routes.
Answering another question on flight safety, the minister revealed that during the last three years and so far this year 141 incidents of emergency landings due to medical or technical reasons have been reported.
"All incidents except emergency landing due to medical issues are investigated by DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and also by the PIB (permanent investigation board) of the concerned airlines," Sharma told parliament.
"Safety recommendations emanating from the investigations are followed up for implementation, so as to prevent recurrence of similar incidents in future."
The minister added that the incidents data are regularly analysed and air safety circulars issued to bring important findings to the notice of the operators to avoid recurrence of such mishaps.
