Editor's Pick | Roof collapse at Delhi airport claims one life; flights moved to other terminals

One person was killed and six were injured when the canopy over the forecourt at Terminal 1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport collapsed on cars following heavy rain in New Delhi on Friday. At least four cars were damaged. Flights arriving and departing from the terminal were cancelled and the police registered a case of criminal negligence. The deceased was a cab driver, the police said. The son of 45-year-old Ramesh Kumar said “criminal negligence” on the part of the government led to his father’s untimely death. The airport is operated by a GMR Group-led consortium. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), parts of Delhi near the airport recorded a massive 228.1 mm of rainfall in the previous 24 hours, making it one of the wettest days in June for Delhi. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has assigned a team from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi to examine the cause of the collapse, and has also asked all airports to conduct a thorough inspection of the structural strength of their buildings within two to five days. As a result of the incident, IndiGo cancelled 115 flights and SpiceJet cancelled eight flights. The airlines announced free refunds for affected passengers. IndiGo will move its T1 flights to T2 and T3, while SpiceJet will move them to Terminal 2 until the team from IIT-Delhi examines the cause of the collapse and T1 is reopened. The incident happened around 5 a.m. outside the departure section of T1, which is a two-storey building with arrivals on the ground floor and departures on the first floor. The departure section of T1 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2024. However, Minister of Civil Aviation Rammohan Naidu said that the forecourt area was not part of the renovated building, but was constructed in 2008-09. The airport has extended an ex-gratia of ₹20 lakh for the family of the deceased and ₹3 lakh for those injured. The government has also asked airlines to ensure there is no abnormal surge in airfares for Delhi flights due to Friday’s cancellations. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is a joint venture led by GMR Airports Limited, which owns a 64% stake. The Delhi Police registered a case under Sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against unknown persons. Four people died and several were injured as the southwest monsoon arrived in the national capital, bringing with it the highest rainfall recorded in a 24-hour period in Delhi in June since 1936. The deluge left several arterial roads waterlogged causing traffic jams and affecting several low-lying areas. It led to the closure of several underpasses, including the recently constructed Pragati Maidan tunnel, the road under Minto Bridge, the ITO railway crossing, and the Moolchand underpass. Several colony roads were also inundated, with water filling the basements and flowing into the ground floor. As a precautionary measure, power was disconnected in large parts of the capital to prevent incidents of electrocution. “Water started draining immediately after the rain stopped. We had an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation and a 24x7 control room has been set up at the PWD headquarters to monitor the situation and deploy pumps wherever required,” Delhi Water Minister Atishi said. The roof collapse at the airport prompted Opposition leaders to hit out at the government for the poor quality of infrastructure, for which they also blamed “corruption” as well as “ribbon-cutting ceremonies” before elections. “Corruption and criminal negligence are responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi govt”, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X. He cited various incidents, including the roof collapse at the Jabalpur airport this week, water leakage at the Ram Mandir and potholes on the roads leading up to it following rains, cracks on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link road, collapse of 13 new bridges in Bihar in 2023 and 2024, submergence of the newly built tunnel near Pragati Maidan in the national capital, and the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat in 2022. The Hindu’s Editorials A fresh start: On the Goods and Services Tax Council meet ​Debt trap: On crisis in Kenya The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Under which section of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita will FIRs be registered henceforth? Section 420 Section 204 Section 154 Section 173 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 29 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] [EP Logo] Editor's Pick 29 June 2024 In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Roof collapse at Delhi airport claims one life; flights moved to other terminals One person was killed and six were injured when the canopy over the forecourt at [Terminal 1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport collapsed on cars following heavy rain in New Delhi on Friday](. At least four cars were damaged. Flights arriving and departing from the terminal were cancelled and the police registered a case of criminal negligence. The deceased was a cab driver, the police said. [The son of 45-year-old Ramesh Kumar said “criminal negligence” on the part of the government led to his father’s untimely death](. The airport is operated by a GMR Group-led consortium. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), parts of Delhi near the airport recorded a massive 228.1 mm of rainfall in the previous 24 hours, making it one of the wettest days in June for Delhi. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has assigned a team from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi to examine the cause of the collapse, and has also asked all airports to conduct a thorough inspection of the structural strength of their buildings within two to five days. As a result of the incident, IndiGo cancelled 115 flights and SpiceJet cancelled eight flights. The airlines announced free refunds for affected passengers. IndiGo will move its T1 flights to T2 and T3, while SpiceJet will move them to Terminal 2 until the team from IIT-Delhi examines the cause of the collapse and T1 is reopened. The incident happened around 5 a.m. outside the departure section of T1, which is a two-storey building with arrivals on the ground floor and departures on the first floor. The departure section of T1 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2024. However, Minister of Civil Aviation Rammohan Naidu said that the forecourt area was not part of the renovated building, but was constructed in 2008-09. The airport has extended an ex-gratia of ₹20 lakh for the family of the deceased and ₹3 lakh for those injured. The government has also asked airlines to ensure there is no abnormal surge in airfares for Delhi flights due to Friday’s cancellations. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is a joint venture led by GMR Airports Limited, which owns a 64% stake. The Delhi Police registered a case under Sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against unknown persons. [Four people died and several were injured as the southwest monsoon arrived in the national capital, bringing with it the highest rainfall recorded in a 24-hour period in Delhi in June since 1936](. The deluge left several arterial roads waterlogged causing traffic jams and affecting several low-lying areas. It led to the closure of several underpasses, including the recently constructed Pragati Maidan tunnel, the road under Minto Bridge, the ITO railway crossing, and the Moolchand underpass. Several colony roads were also inundated, with water filling the basements and flowing into the ground floor. As a precautionary measure, power was disconnected in large parts of the capital to prevent incidents of electrocution. “Water started draining immediately after the rain stopped. We had an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation and a 24x7 control room has been set up at the PWD headquarters to monitor the situation and deploy pumps wherever required,” Delhi Water Minister Atishi said. The roof collapse at the airport prompted Opposition leaders to hit out at the government for the poor quality of infrastructure, for which they also blamed “corruption” as well as “ribbon-cutting ceremonies” before elections. [“Corruption and criminal negligence are responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi govt”, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X.]( He cited various incidents, including the roof collapse at the Jabalpur airport this week, water leakage at the Ram Mandir and potholes on the roads leading up to it following rains, cracks on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link road, collapse of 13 new bridges in Bihar in 2023 and 2024, submergence of the newly built tunnel near Pragati Maidan in the national capital, and the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat in 2022. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][A fresh start: On the Goods and Services Tax Council meetÂ]( [Arrow][​Debt trap: On crisis in Kenya]( The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Under which section of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita will FIRs be registered henceforth? - Section 420 - Section 204 - Section 154 - Section 173 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. 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