IIT Delhi civil engineers expected to complete assessment in a month

All flights from T1 were shifted to Terminal 2 (T2) and Terminal 3 (T3) and all flights were operating, the senior government official said. On June 28, a canopy on the old departure area of ​​T1 partially collapsed during heavy rains, resulting in the death of one person and injuries to at least six people.

Following the incident, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that civil engineers from IIT Delhi have been asked to immediately investigate the partial collapse of the canopy. The official said the ministry is engaging civil engineers from IIT Delhi to conduct an independent investigation into the roof collapse at T1 and they are expected to complete the investigation in a month. After the results are out, a decision will be taken on resumption of operations at T1, the official added.

Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), operated by the GMR Group-led consortium DIAL, has three terminals – T1, T2 and T3 – and handles around 1,400 aircraft movements daily.

T1 was used for domestic flights of IndiGo and SpiceJet. From T1, 72 flights of IndiGo were shifted to T2 and T3 and 17 flights to T3, the official said. All flights are operational.

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu met senior officials of regulators, airport operator DIAL and airlines to review the measures taken to ensure smooth operations and deployment of additional manpower to handle the increased passenger numbers at T2 and T3. Naidu on Sunday visited the Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) to review operations as T2 and T3 are now handling traffic from T1 as well.

According to an update from the ministry on Monday, crisis teams have been activated to support passengers and close coordination between DIAL and the airlines is being facilitated.

“All SpiceJet flights to/from Delhi from July 1 to July 7, 2024 will operate from Terminal 3 of Delhi Airport. The necessary information has been communicated to all passengers through their registered contact details (SMS/email),” the airline said in a post on X on Sunday. Two sources with knowledge of the situation said it could take a few months for operations at T1 to resume.

Responding to a number of detailed queries on T1, DIAL said on Sunday that its cross-functional teams are actively assessing the situation and working with various stakeholders to ensure passenger safety and comfort.

“We remain committed to maintaining flight operations at T3 and T2 while operations at T1 are temporarily suspended. We thank all stakeholders for their understanding and support,” a DIAL spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday.

In response to questions about the business losses of the concessionaires who operate shops and services at T1, the spokesman replied that since the evaluation process was still ongoing, it was too early to provide specific information.

As a precautionary measure, all flight operations from T1 have been suspended until further notice. The expanded T1, whose capacity has been increased from 17 million to 40 million passengers, is not yet fully operational.

“While the cause of the canopy collapse is being investigated, the main culprit appears to be heavy rain. According to the India Meteorological Department on Friday, Delhi Safdarjung received a whopping 228.1 mm of rain in a span of 24 hours (mainly in the early hours of Friday).

“This is the highest 24-hour rainfall in Delhi in June in 85 years. The average rainfall in the region over the last 30 years is 75.2 mm,” the spokesman said in the statement on Sunday.

The roof collapse is being investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as well as a technical committee set up by DIAL. On June 28, the ministry announced that round-the-clock operation centres would be set up under strict supervision. “The operation centre will ensure full refund of cancelled flights or provide alternative itinerary tickets as per availability. All refunds will be processed within a stipulated timeframe of 7 days,” the ministry had said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been instructed to issue a circular to all small and large airports requesting them to conduct a thorough structural soundness review.

“Based on the findings, the need for enhanced security measures and the development of long-term strategies to prevent a recurrence of such unfortunate incidents is given priority,” the ministry said in a statement.