A canopy collapsed at the pickup and drop-off area at Gujarat’s Rajkot on June 29 amid heavy rainfall. Fortunately, no casualties were reported. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation sources, the canopy broke during maintenance work to push out accumulated water.
Rajkot International Airport, located at Hirasar is about 30 kms from Rajkot city.
Airport authorities reported that water accumulation was observed on the city side of the canopy at the terminal building at 11.55 am due to heavy rains.
“As we came to know about it we gave the information to the civil works department and the area beneath was cordoned off,” the authorities stated.
Delhi Airport Canopy Incident
A day before the Rajkot International Airport incident, a similar incident occurred at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 1 (T1) due to heavy rainfall. The collapse caused the death of a cab driver and injured eight others.
The incident took place around 5 am.
Consequently, flight operations at Terminal 1 were suspended, and all operations were shifted to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3.
Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu released a statement on his X account called the incident “unfortunate” and stated that “Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCAS), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Delhi Police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had been closely working to put their best efforts.
“This morning at 5, a very unfortunate incident happened at IGI Airport Terminal-1, when a section of the canopy outside the airport building collapsed due to heavy rain all night.” He further extended his condolences to the life that has been lost in the tragic incident.
Heavy Rainfall in Delhi: 228 mm in 24 Hours
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi’s Safdarjung recorded a massive 228 mm of rain on the date of incident. Reportedly this was the highest 24-hour rainfall in Delhi in June since 1936. The average rainfall in the area in the last 30 years is 75.2 mm.
Jabalpur Canopy Incident
In a separate incident, part of the canopy of the newly constructed building at Jabalpur’s Dumna Airport collapsed on June 27 due to water accumulation, with the fabric tearing following heavy rains. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but the collapse did damage a parked government official’s car.
A technical probe has been ordered by Rajiv Ratan Pandey, Director of Jabalpur Airport, to investigate the matter and ascertain the reasons behind the incident.
Read more: Hajj Heatwave Tragedy Claims At Least 1300 Lives of Pilgrims
