We can’t have shoddy infra causing citizens’ deaths

A portion of canopy outside Rajkot airport collapsed on Saturday. Pic/PTI

The canopy at Rajkot Airport's pick-up and drop area collapsed over the weekend, amidst heavy rain making this the third such incident in the country in three days. The incident was followed by canopy collapses at the Jabalpur Airport in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi Airport's T1 on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

While there were no injuries or casualties reported in the Rajkot incident, there is a forecast of very heavy rainfall in some areas, with seven teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) deployed in Kutch Valsad districts and elsewhere.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has ordered a structural audit of all airports across India following the canopy collapse at Delhi airport. The Airports Authority of India is to issue circulars to all airports in India to conduct structural audits and submit their findings to the ministry. The inspections are to be carried out urgently. Following the inspections, comprehensive reports are to be submitted to the MoCA for review, a spokesman has been quoted in the papers report as saying.

Infrastructure, whether temporary or permanent, must always be made with an eye on it enduring weather vagaries. Heavy rain cannot be an excuse for death or grievous injury. At inception itself, infra must be made factoring in extraordinary rainfall and winds. Quality, vision, top class design, the best material and faultless execution should all come into play seamlessly, when any kind of infra, small or big is planned. While we pride ourselves on recent tech or scientific achievements, this has little meaning when we get basics wrong, maybe because of corruption in the system. People have paid with their lives for this. Those responsible need to hang their heads in shame.