A Week After Ahmedabad Crash, Govt Notifies Rules to Demolish Aerodrome Obstructions
New Delhi: A week after the Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, killing at least 241 people, the Union government has notified the ‘Aircraft (Demolition of obstructions caused by Buildings and Trees etc.) Rules, 2025’.
The rules state that the owner of a building or trees which obstruct an aerodrome should demolish the same (or reduce the height as per the order) within 60 days of an order from civil aviation authorities.
On receiving the report from the officer-in-charge of the aerodrome, a District Collector has been empowered to carry out a demolition of a building or the cutting of a tree or a reduction in height of the building – "in the same manner and by the same procedure as is followed in case of demolition of any unauthorised construction in his district" the rules say.
Officers can also enter premises during daylight hours after informing the owner to verify whether they meet the criteria of demolition. If the owners do not cooperate, officers can proceed based on available information and refer the matter to the DGCA, as per the new rules.
Owners can appeal against the verdict and claim compensation under section 22 of the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024.
The London-bound flight AI-171 was carrying 242 passengers and crew members when it crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, seconds after taking off. The government has not yet released an official figure of those who were on the ground and died as the plane crashed on the premises of a medical college.
The new rules come amidst calls for a foolproof degree of checks on flights taking off from the country. While the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on June 17 said that surveillance conducted on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet “did not reveal any major safety concerns”, 16 Air India flights were cancelled on the same day, 13 from the same Boeing 787 fleet.
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