Surat Collector Accused of Risking Flight Safety at Airport

Surat, Gujarat — The Surat district collector, Dr Saurabh Pardhi  is facing serious allegations of remaining negligent in demolishing the six high-rise buildings obstructing the flight path of the aircrafts landing at the Surat airport in the last three years. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had directed the demolition of the buildings under the Aircraft Safety Rules 1994 in 2021. However, the district collector failed to take any action for three  years and put the safety aircraft operations on tenterhooks. 

Sanjay Ezhava, an RTI activist in Surat gathered all the relevant documents related to the procedural action taken by the DGCA and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) against the high-rise buildings obstructing the flight path of the aircrafts in the funnel of the Surat airport runway. 

In the joint obstruction survey conducted by the Airport Authority in 2018 in 50 projects, NOC violations were found in 41 projects. Under which, as per the Aircraft Rules 1994, notices were issued to 41 projects to reduce the height of the building.

Out of the 41 projects, 14 projects agreed to reduce the height of the building suo moto (voluntarily). The DGCA held private hearings with the builders of all the remaining 27 projects and issued 8 orders on August 6, 2021, 17 orders on August 9, 2021,  and 2 orders on August 10, 2021, ordering 27 projects to reduce the height of the building within a time limit of 60 days.

The developers/builders of 21 projects filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court against the final order of the DGCA (1. Cellestial Dreams, 2. Crystal Palace, 3. Horizon, 4. Rasik Villa, 5. Salasar Palace, 6. Samarth Enclave, 7. Shreeji Residency, 8. Shrungar Residency, 9. OM Icon, 10. Shyam Palace, 11. Star Galaxy, 12. Gokul Platinum, 13. Green Fortune, 14. 7 Heaven Apartment, 15. Empire Regency, 16. Agam A Crossroad, 17. Swastik Vihar Apartment, 18. Jolly Residency, 19. Happy Glorious, 20. The Evolution, 21. Happy Residency. 

However, the remaining six developers/builders didi not file any appeal in the Gujarat High Court including (1. Florence, 2. Jash Residency, 3. Sarjan Apartment, 4. Fionna Apartment, 5. Ravi Ratnam Apartment, 6. L & T Apartment) . The Surat district collector was informed by AAI on July 27, 2022 to demolish the obstruction of the six buildings. Correspondence was exchanged with the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) as well. 

On September 16, 2022,  the Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Urban Development Department) wrote a letter to the Collector informing him that the Airport Director had written a letter to him demanding to take necessary action to remove the height of the projects that did not appeal against the final order of the DGCA.

Even after the final order of the Surat Airport Director dated 27.07.2022 and the reminder letter of the Surat Municipal Corporation dated 16.09.2022, no action was taken by the Collector for about 3 years. After the plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025,  the Surat District Collector woke up and wrote a letter to the Airport Director Surat on 03.07.2025, placing the responsibility of demolishing these buildings on the Airport Authority and instructing it to do this demolition in coordination with the Surat Municipal Corporation and to send a report to the Collector after completing the demolition.

“Looking at all these matters, it seems that the Surat District Collector has deliberately risked the lives of 70 lakh citizens of Surat city and the security of the airport in order to prevent the builders from getting hurt. All this information was obtained under RTI, so the gross negligence of the Surat District Collector has come to light” said Ezhava.