Rajkot Airport Canopy Collapse Amid Heavy Rain Raises Concerns Over Infrastructure
Third Incident in Three Days Sparks Debate on Public Facility Safety and Maintenance
Heavy rain on Saturday caused a canopy at the passenger pickup and drop area outside Gujarat's Rajkot airport to collapse. This is the third such event in three days, and it raises questions about the nation's public facility infrastructure.
No casualties or injuries were reported.
A day after part of the canopy at the new terminal building of Jabalpur airport in Madhya Pradesh had fallen and crushed a car below, on Friday a section of the roof at Delhi airport's Terminal-1 collapsed on parked cars, resulting in the death of a taxi driver and the injuries of eight others. But there were no reported injuries.
Leaders of the opposition have accused Modi of "corruption and criminal negligence," pointing out that in the run-up to the general elections in April and June, he had dedicated or laid the cornerstone for new terminals at fifteen airports. They claimed that unfinished terminals were intentionally inaugurated ahead of schedule in order to gain votes.
On Friday, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, the minister of civil aviation, stated that the roof crash happened over a portion of Terminal-1 at the Delhi airport that was constructed roughly 15 years ago, not over the recently constructed portion that Modi had inaugurated shortly before the Lok Sabha elections.
Officials from the government stated that the former departure forecourt, located in Terminal-1, was built between 2008 and 2009, during the UPA's rule. However, they did not elaborate on whether maintenance had been neglected.
According to sources in the civil aviation ministry, on Saturday, during maintenance work meant to clear collected water after a period of intense rainfall, the canopy at the passenger pickup and drop area outside the Rajkot airport terminal collapsed.
On the most recent occurrence, the ministry has not yet released a formal comment.
In a post on X, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera stated: "Rajkot Airport: July 27, 2023. The roof gave way on June 29, 2024.
Despite being in power for ten years, the BJP frequently blames India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, for the nation's woes. On Saturday, the BJP claimed that Nehru should not be held accountable for the canopy fall outside Rajkot airport because "he did not build airports on the scale that was required."
The canopy cloth at Rajkot Airport tearing away due to strong winds and rain is not the same as infrastructure collapse. And certainly, Nehru is not to blame for it; he did not construct airports on the necessary size. If it were up to him, we would all be riding about in DRDO-certified bullock carts. Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP's IT cell, posted on X that "MoCA just ordered security review of small and big airports in the country yesterday."
Following the unfortunate occurrence at the Delhi airport, Terminal-1, which serves about 200 planes each day, had its operations suspended indefinitely.
Although the exact cause of the collapse is unknown, heavy rain and strong winds were cited by airport officials as the reason for the roof crash.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
