Delhi T-1 roof collapse: Government orders structural audit of all airports
- In Reports
- 12:06 PM, Jun 29, 2024
- Myind Staff
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, in response to the roof collapse incident at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal-1, has assured proactive measures. He stated that a preliminary structural inspection would be conducted at all airports across the country.
Naidu mentioned that the ministry has requested reports from all airports within 2-5 days. Based on these reports, necessary measures will be implemented to prevent future incidents of collapse.
"Since we don't want such incidents to be repeated, we will ensure getting a structural preliminary inspection done at all airports. We have sought a report from all the airports across the country within 2-5 days, upon which we will see what necessary measures are needed to be taken to prevent such incidents in the future," news agency ANI quoted Naidu as saying.
His remarks came following the Delhi Airport canopy collapse incident, which resulted in the death of a 45-year-old cab driver and injuries to eight others.
The minister also expressed his condolence for the departed soul and said, "The incident that happened at the Delhi airport is very tragic and I offer my condolences to the one individual who lost his life. Some people were injured also in the incident, they have been taken to the hospital and their treatment is underway."
While discussing proactive measures, the aviation minister mentioned that a war room had been set up to facilitate refunds or provide alternate flights to affected passengers from the incident. He also assured that refunds would be processed within seven days or alternate flights arranged for those whose flights were cancelled.
"For now, Terminal-1 is completely closed and evacuated. All the flight movements have been shifted to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. For those people whose flights have been cancelled, they are being given either a refund or an alternate flight. The Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to pass a circular to provide refunds to the people within seven days."
"To ensure this happens, we have set up war rooms at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. The Ministry has released a statement regarding this which has all the numbers. We are taking care of it and have placed one of the officers in the war rooms," he added.
The ministry has also issued a circular to airlines, citing not to increase the fares.
"When such incidents occur, there is an increase in air fares, so we have issued another circular to airlines on not increasing the fare of the tickets and maintaining the prices," Naidu said.
He also criticised the opposition Congress for engaging in petty politics and spreading misinformation regarding the tragic incident.
"I am a little surprised that the opposition wants to do politics on this kind of issue by saying this is a terminal inaugurated by PM Modi but it is fake news they are spreading. PM Modi inaugurated a building in another terminal and it is intact. The roof of the building that collapsed is an old building inaugurated in 2009. It is a 15-year-old building...using this situation to take a dig at the govrnment is not a good precedent," he said.
The canopy collapse has led to the indefinite suspension of operations from Terminal 1, which handles approximately 200 flights per day. The police have registered a case on charges of causing death by negligence.
Delhi Airport, operated by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), reported that a roof at the old departure forecourt of Terminal 1 partially collapsed around 5 am on Friday. While the exact cause of the collapse has not been determined, it is suspected to be related to heavy rainfall and strong winds.
DIAL has also formed a technical committee to investigate the cause of the incident. Additionally, the ministry has announced compensation of ₹20 lakh to the family of the deceased and ₹3 lakh each to those who sustained minor injuries.
Image source: ANI
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