Three airport mishaps in three days: Jabalpur, Delhi IGI, then Rajkot

THE monsoon season in India has brought not only heavy rains but also a series of unfortunate incidents at various airports across the country. These mishaps, primarily caused by relentless downpours, have raised serious concerns about the safety and structural integrity of airport facilities.  

Here is a look at the incidents: 

Delhi IGI Airport

Early Friday morning, the canopy at Terminal 1 at IGI Airport collapsed due to heavy rainfall, tragically resulting in the death of Ramesh Kumar, a cab driver, and injuries to eight others. 

The incident comes less than four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the opening of an upgrade of the terminal, to allow it to handle 40 million passengers a year, up from 17 million previously. The structure was erected in 2008-09.

Following the incident, all flight operations from Terminal 1 have been suspended till further notice and rescheduled by the respective Airlines to operate from Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, till the impacted areas are restored for operations.

Jabalpur Airport

A part of the canopy at Jabalpur Airport in central India collapsed on Thursday. Though no one was injured in the incident, a car belonging to an Income Tax official was damaged. The airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 10.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which started a probe, said that the newly constructed building experienced its first rain, which led to water accumulation and the subsequent collapse of the canopy.

Rajkot Airport

In the third incident in three days, a canopy collapsed at the passenger pickup and drop area outside Gujarat's Rajkot Airport amid heavy rainfall on Saturday. According to preliminary information, there were no reports of any injuries or casualties.

Ministry of Civil Aviation sources told ANI, the canopy broke during maintenance work intended to remove accumulated water. Repair work is currently underway, and a detailed report on the incident has been requested.

The new greenfield airport was inaugurated by PM Modi in July 2023. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) built the new airport 25 km from Rajkot at Hirasar village.

Who is to blame for the mishaps?

Though rains played a big part in the mishaps, opposition party politicians and experts pointed out about the risks of lax regulation and the fast pace at which projects are completed. Modi has for years bet big on infrastructure development.

Modi's plans include making India a rival to big aviation hubs like Dubai and Singapore. Since he came to power in 2014, India's operational airports have nearly doubled to 140 and the government plans to increase this to 220 before the end of the decade.

"Quality should not be compromised to chase speed," said Ameya Joshi, an independent aviation analyst told Reuters.

He also called for mechanisms to audit existing infrastructure, pointing out that the Delhi roof that collapsed was an older structure.