The Roof Collapse at Delhi International Airport Terminal 1 has highlighted a very critical cause of concern. Ideally supposed to be one of the safest places in terms of quality and adaptability, the collapse of a roof at Delhi Airport Terminal 1 has given rise to serious questions on construction quality.

When a portion of the canopy at the departure area at T1 collapsed, one car was crushed and several were damaged due to the falling debris. The collapse led to the death of one person and many have been injured. As per latest reports, Metro Shuttle Services and Flight Operations at Delhi Airport T1 have been temporarily cancelled. However, incoming flights were allowed to land till 1045 today morning. The collapse happened when Delhi and neighboring NCR regions were hit by a spell of heavy rains on Friday morning.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, taking cogniscance of the situation, informed that all flights to and from Delhi Airport T1 have been suspended. They informed that alternative arrangement are being made for smooth operations. The Delhi Aiport management added that the arrival and departure of Spice Jet flights from T1 will take place from Terminal 3 instead. All these permutations and combinations will result in delay of landing and take offs across Delhi Airport and probably also from other source airports, from where flights to Delhi are operating today.

The Government has announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the deceased and Rs 3 Lakh to each of those injured.

Operations of Metro are also affected. The entry and exit gates of Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector 25 Metro have been closed. The Aerocity Metro Station to Terminal 1 IGI Airport shuttle service has also been discontinued.

Political Undertones

Like always, this mishap has led to accusations from political parties. The Opposition has slammed the Prime Minister for hurriedly inaugurating the extended Terminal 1 for Poll Campaign advantage. They alleged that the construction was not complete or was done in a hurry to accomodate the Prime Ministers inauguration before the Moral Code of Conduct period began. An incident of a roof at the Ram Lalla Temple in Ayodhya also sparked off a similar controversy. Congress Top Brass have accused the Modi Government of cirminal negligence and corruption in infra projects. Clarifying the matter, Union Minister of Civil Aviation clarified that the building inaugurated by PM Modi was on the other side and the roof that collapsed is of a building constructed in 2009.

The Delhi International Airport is formally the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and is a joint venture between GMR Airports, Airports Authority of India and Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide. In May 2006, the management of the airport was passed over from Airports Authority of India to Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL)