The canopy of the airport in Rajkot of Gujarat collapsed on Saturday, June 29, amidst heavy rain. Details of casualty and injuries are awaited. The airport was inaugurated in July 2023 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The incident in Rajkot is the third airport canopy to collapse in two days. The canopy in Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) collapsed on June 28, killing one and injuring eight persons. On June 27, a portion of the canopy in the new terminal building of Jabalpur airport in Madhya Pradesh fell on the car of an Income Tax official. However, no one was injured in the incident.
Following the canopy collapse at Terminal-1 of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said that they will conduct a thorough check of all the airports in the country. "We will conduct a thorough check on all the airports that come under our purview … we will make the necessary report and see if there is a requirement for an independent body for this,” he said.
After inspecting the spot, the Minister said, "We have asked the Delhi International Airport Limited to do a verification and inspection from their side. But we are not leaving it up to them. From the Ministry, we have the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which underlooks the safety aspect, which will be supervising this inspection and will submit its report. From the Ministry side, I can assure you that this is taken as a serious issue, not just in this airport but all across the country, with similar structures.”
The Minister further said, "We have informed the airlines that passengers should not face any inconvenience … The passengers will get full refunds and other than that if they want to travel from alternative routes, they will be assisted."
(With inputs from IANS)