Canopy Collapses at Rajkot Airport Amid Heavy Rains, Third Such Incident in Three Days
New Delhi: A day after the roof at Terminal-1D of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport collapsed, killing at least one and injuring several others, the canopy outside Gujarat’s Rajkot airport collapsed on Saturday following heavy rains.
The canopy collapse in Rajkot is the third such incident in three days. Prior to the roof collapse at the Delhi airport on Friday, a part of the tensile roof/fabric canopy in front of the expanded new terminal building of Dumna Airport in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh collapsed on Thursday after heavy rains.
A video uploaded on social media by the Press Trust of India showed that the canopy at Rajkot airport’s passenger pick up and drop off area collapsed on Saturday amid heavy rains. However, no casualties have been reported in the incident yet.
News agency ANI citing sources in the Union ministry of civil aviation reported that the canopy collapsed during the maintenance work to push out water accumulated in it. A detailed report into the matter has been sought.
After the collapse of the canopy at the Rajkot airport, opposition Congress said that the airport had been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2023 and accused him of scoring a “hattrick” in three days with three such incidents following heavy rains.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that the canopy collapse in Rajkot was another example of corruption by the Modi government.
“Another picture of corruption of Modi government came out‼️ After Jabalpur Airport, Indira Gandhi Airport, now the roof collapsed in the passenger Pick Up & Drop area outside the terminal of Rajkot Airport. Mr Prime Minister, please tell the people of the country where and how much you ate and fed your friends? So that the general public does not go there and put their lives in danger.”
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said that “everything inaugurated by Modi in the last six months should be checked for safety.
After the roof collapse at the Delhi airport’s Terminal 1D on Friday, opposition parties had questioned the need to inaugurate the terminal by Modi in March while it was still “incomplete”.
Union minister for civil aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu responded 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″, thereby trying to distance Modi from the tragedy.
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