The civil aviation ministry has directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to enquire into the collapse of the roof of terminal 1D of the Delhi airport on Friday because of heavy rain and wind. DGCA will submit its report in two months, said a release from the civil aviation ministry.
“We have asked DGCA to enquire into the incident. Any action against the consortium (of developers) will be decided only after that,” said ministry sources. Another official said that DGCA can even cancel the consortium’s licence to run the airport.
Delhi International Airport Ltd, which operates the airport, is promoted by a consortium led by the GMR group. It was a showcase infrastructure project of the previous United Progressive Alliance government. Heavy rain yesterday caused the roof to cave in and passengers were stranded in knee-deep water.
The DIAL board also met today to review the incident and ordered an inquiry into the incident. “The board appointed a four-member expert committee under the chairmanship of an independent director of DIAL, CEO GM Rao and a representative of the Airports Authority of India. The committee will look into the incident and suggest remedial measures to avoid recurrence. The report of the committee is expected in three weeks,” said a release from DIAL.
Operation at the affected terminal returned to normalcy this morning. The affected roof of the terminal has also been rectified. “More than 400 flights have operated since morning, including over 120 departures from Terminal 1D. The project management and operations teams of DIAL mobilised men and material overnight and rectified the affected areas of the T1D roof,” said the release.
On Friday, flights were rescheduled and diverted after the security area of the departure terminal was flooded. The airport was shut for an hour. This is the second time the departure terminal was flooded due to sudden rains, the first time being last month. The new domestic departure terminal, which was built at a cost of Rs 500 crore, became fully operational in May this year.
Rains and wind blowing at 100 km per hour lashed Delhi bringing the visibility at the airport down to 100 metre. The runway was closed for an hour and DIAL said 20 flights departing Delhi were delayed by one to two hours and ten flights approaching Delhi were diverted.
Why should DGCA be given 2 months to submit their report? It shows they're not serious about this. In 2 months time, rains will be over, and it'll be too late to undertake any major changes in the design - not if the airport has to be ready for the Commonwealth Games. They should learn something from DMRC - After the pillar collapse, DMRC set up the committee, submitted its report and took action against its officials and Gammon - all within the space of 2 weeks.
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