PATNA, June 16 -- The Bihar government had requested the Centre to send a multi-disciplinary team to suggest actions for safe air operations from the Jayprakash Narayan International (JPNI) airport in Patna, said Amrit Lal Meena, Bihar chief secretary (CS), on Sunday. The request follows the Airports Authority of India (AAI) sounding out the state about unsafe air operations, given the short runway length and obstacles on either side of the runway, ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Patna on May 29. The air safety issue, festering since 2012 despite the AAI relentlessly pushing the state for additional land to increase runway length and to remove encumbrances, has tickled the government's senses this time following the June 12 plane crash of Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight (171) from Ahmedabad to Gatwick (London), carrying 242 people. Vijay Rupani, former Gujarat chief minister, was among the 241 casualties on board the aircraft. "I have requested the secretary, ministry of civil aviation (MoCA), to send a multi-disciplinary team, comprising officials from the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) and the state government to suggest a doable action plan for further safety of air operations, which is of paramount importance to us, from Patna airport," said Meena, while talking to Hindustan Times on Sunday. The government, he said, was proactive to the concern of passenger safety, which he said was of paramount importance, and open to considering all options, which the multi-disciplinary team would suggest. Responding to a query about the limitation in transferring a chunk of zoo land, a protected forest, which the AAI has requested for, Meena said, "There is a provision in rules for diversion of land of protected forest for public infrastructure projects. In such a scenario, compensatory land has to be provided to the forest department. Many railways and highway projects have been undertaken in this manner across the country. We will consider the option." "Let the multi-disciplinary committee first do a ground assessment study and suggest to us a doable action plan for further safety of air operations, hopefully by mid-next month, We will examine and put forward the proposal for approval of the competent authority," added Meena. The chief secretary had on June 3 convened an inter-department meeting on this issue, involving officials from the state's cabinet secretariat, civil aviation department, revenue and land reforms department, environment, forest and climate change department, district administration, Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park and the AAI. S Siddharth, ACS, Bihar cabinet secretariat, who met airport officials on Saturday, had constituted a committee under special secretary Nilesh Ramchandran Deore to inspect and explore the possibility of runway expansion on both ends. The AAI, which last flagged in May the operational constraints and unsafe air operations at the Patna airport, had also written to the state in April, seeking 500 metres additional land for runway expansion, trimming the 56-metre tall clock tower at the state secretariat by 17.5m in height and cutting at least 45 trees at the adjoining Sanjay Gandhi Botanical Park....