Airport operators directed to conduct third party structural audits amid roof collapse incidents

The government on Monday said all airport operators have been directed to carry out a third party audit of structural stability of airport buildings and associated infrastructure.

Besides, they will conduct a thorough evaluation of all civil, electrical and technical aspects of the buildings before the onset of monsoon every year.

The directives came in the wake of roof collapse incidents at three airports last month.

During heavy rain, forecourt canopy collapsed at Terminal 1D of the Delhi airport on June 28. Also, the kerb area canopy made of tensile fabric, a non-structural element, was damaged at Jabalpur and Rajkot airports on June 27 and 29, respectively.

In 2023-24, an amount of Rs 795.72 crore has been spent on Repair and Maintenance (R&M) works at 121 airports of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), as per official data submitted to the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told the Upper House that the ministry has constituted a high-level expert committee consisting of structural engineers from IIT Delhi to assess the incident at the Delhi airport and submit its report.

"Further, all the airport operators have been directed to carry out a third-party audit of structural stability of airport buildings and associated infrastructures through a reputed government institution/body such as IITs, NITs, CBRI, EIL, etc.

"All the airport operators have also been directed to carry out a thorough evaluation of all civil, electrical, and technical aspects of the building, including the design, specifications, and workmanship of the roof sheeting structure before the onset of monsoon every year," the minister said in a written reply.

Aviation regulator DGCA carries out regular audits in the form of surveillance inspections/spot inspections to ensure compliance with these standards.

In a separate written reply, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the Airports Authority of India has initiated investigations to determine the root cause of incidents at Jabalpur and Rajkot airports.

Barring the Covid years, expenditure on Repair and Maintenance (R&M) activities in absolute terms at the airports has increased, Mohol said in another written reply while providing expenditure details for R&M activities at AAI airports.

"Expenditure on repair and maintenance as a percentage of revenue is not an appropriate metric to assess the movement of the expenditure over some time since revenue can increase owing to various factors that have no bearing on the R&M expenses.

"... alternatively, R&M expenses can also increase due to various factors (i.e. life of the assets, normal wear & tear, annual maintenance contract/ comprehensive maintenance contract costs charged by vendors etc.) which may not affect revenue," the minister said.