Have you ever seen monkeys running loose around airplanes on an airfield? It all happens in on the Runway of Tribhuvan International Airport. Sometimes the airport even have to shut down for safety measures due to monkeys taking on the runways. Earthworms is another big problem that this airport is facing.The airport also has a worm problem, and the raptors have a feeding frenzy. A dozen sweepers and some birdguards will not solve the problem worms. And the long-term bird meance from the city needs a national campaign. "The airport's bird problem is an extension of the city's urban waste mis-management," says Explore Nepal's Bharat Basnet, who has been spearheading environmental activism in Kathmandu starting with diesel tempos. By coinci-dence, two of the bird-hits last week involved Lauda Air, the Austrian charter airline Basnet is the representative for. "Kathmandu is like an open garbage disposal site that is sure to attract the birds.Where we can blame the airport management is for its inability to prevent higher mammals from entering the perimeter, for allowing trash accumulation that attracts them, for being unable to deal with debris that present hazards of foreign objects being ingested into engines, and for not coping with the expansion of domestic airline traffic.
