Amid protests and criticism over the Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 incident this morning, when the roof over a car park collapsed following heavy rain, killing one person and injuring several others, Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel slammed the opposition for “playing politics over dead bodies”.
The NCP leader said that the structure, built during his tenure as the Union Aviation Minister under the Congress-led UPA government, was constructed by Larsen & Toubro, one of the top construction companies in the world. The building was inaugurated in 2009.
At the time, the NCP was united under the leadership of its founder Sharad Pawar. However, the party split last year when Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s nephew, led a rebellion and joined the BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra, with Patel siding with the rebel faction.
According to officials, the roof sheet and support beams at Terminal 1 collapsed at 5:30 am on Friday, causing damage to four parked cars in addition to the death and injuries. The government has announced compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the family of the deceased and Rs 3 lakh for each of the injured.
Patel expressed regret that a building of such “magnitude and scale” as Terminal 1 experienced such an accident.
“See… now talking about a structure that was built 15 years ago… and which has seen such extensive usage… to come to any conclusion about what happened it requires a comprehensive audit. I can only say that, as I remember, it was made by one of the best construction companies… L&T,” Patel told NDTV.
“Obviously any building, when it is built, goes through mandatory design and planning clearances… so I can’t comment on something built 15 years ago. I can only say, going forward, we are going to have buildings not just from cement and concrete but also with new-age materials…”
Regarding the opposition’s demand for an inquiry into the Delhi airport roof collapse, Patel said, “I agree… there should not be such incidents. We must be concerned and try to resolve it. But now what is this politics… one side blaming the other or vice versa. This is completely out of place. Politics over dead bodies is something I don’t like. All should be concerned with loss of lives.”
Praful was referring to the allegations made by Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that the T1 building was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just recently.
Kharge said, “Corruption and criminal negligence is responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi government.”
National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah posted on X, “Incomplete terminal ‘inaugurated’ before the model code was imposed earlier this year starts falling apart before it’s even completed, what a surprise!!”
Trinamool leader and Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale also alleged that PM Modi “hurriedly inaugurated” the expanded Terminal 1 for election campaigning.
The BJP refuted these claims, clarifying that the Prime Minister had inaugurated a different building. Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said, “We are taking this incident seriously. I want to clarify that the building inaugurated by PM Modi is on the other side and the building that collapsed here is an old building and was opened in 2009.”
