The collapse of a roof of the Delhi Airport’s Terminal 1 reportedly killed one and injured eight others on June 28th. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) for thorough inspection of the collapsed structure.
The Indian capital has witnessed heavy rainfall recently, which is said to make the canopy and a huge metal-beam located at the pick-up and drop area of Terminal 1 collapse. The collapse crushed a man to death in his own car seat. Several other cars were crushed at the scene by the large white canopy of the busiest airport in the world. According to weather offices, Delhi faced one of the wettest seasons as of June. The numbers record 228.1 mm of rain.
Accusations by Opposition
Several jabs have been made by oppositions at the Prime Minister for ‘hurried inauguration.’ Statements accusing Narendra Modi of overseeing a ‘shoddy infrastructure’ and ‘incomplete terminal’ had been thrown at the newly elected President by the opposition. They also claimed that he had completed the terminal before elections in order to facilitate his Lok Sabha election campaign. “The Prime Minister had inaugurated this part of Terminal 1 with great fanfare; today it collapsed, 3 people lost their lives, many are injured. Sometimes Ram Temple, sometimes Atal Setu, sometimes Jabalpur Terminal, sometimes Delhi Terminal. Wherever BJP exists, there is corruption (sic),” opines Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh.
Leaders like Saket Gokhale of Trinamool Congress is one of many to accuse PM Modi of inaugurating the terminal hurriedly for his Lok Sabha campaign, adding “Why shouldn’t PM Modi be charged with culpable homicide? He’s directly responsible for the death of three people who lost their lives because Modi was desperate to campaign,” on X.
Corruption as a response to opposition
Corruption has been one of the famous arrays to forefront the confrontations made by the oppositions.
Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Priyanka Gandhi’s claims in this manner have elicited response from the Union Minister Kinjapuru to clarify that “the building inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi is on the other side and the building that collapsed here is an old building and was opened in 2009.” The Government clarified that the area in question was contracted out by GMR Airports Limited to private contractors. “Corruption and criminal negligence is responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of the Modi government,” Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted on X (formerly Twitter).
He also adds, “On March 10, when Modi ji inaugurated the Delhi Airport T1, he called himself” Doosri mitti ka insaan… Our heartfelt condolences to the victims of the Delhi airport tragedy. They bore the brunt of a Corrupt, Inept and Selfish Govt,” and listed out other allegations of bad infrastructure against PM Modi during his tenure.
Condolences by the Union Civil Minister
The Union Civil Minister has launched a statement promising that a safety audit is being conducted and that Terminal 1 is completely cleared owing to safety concerns. He also assures that operations will be reinstated by tomorrow morning after the safety audit clearance. He also apologized and announced the safety measures taken.
“We express our condolences to the life that has been lost in this tragic incident. We immediately sent the emergency response team, the fire safety team and also the CISF and NDRF teams.” The family of the deceased has also been monetarily compensated with Rs. 20 lakh and the rest of the injured has received an amount of Rs. 3 lakh.
