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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Fatal Complacency

Three aviation incidents at Baramati in seven months should be enough to make even the most complacent regulator nervous. Instead, the runway appears to have been allowed to deteriorate while promises of an upgrade gather dust. There is something profoundly disturbing about the latest aircraft incident at Baramati where the two pilots fortunately escaped unharmed. In January this year, a chartered aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others had crashed near...

Fatal Complacency

Three aviation incidents at Baramati in seven months should be enough to make even the most complacent regulator nervous. Instead, the runway appears to have been allowed to deteriorate while promises of an upgrade gather dust. There is something profoundly disturbing about the latest aircraft incident at Baramati where the two pilots fortunately escaped unharmed. In January this year, a chartered aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others had crashed near the Baramati airstrip owing to low visibility, killing everyone aboard. On May 13, another aircraft crash-landed near the airfield. Now, another trainer aircraft has run beyond the runway after two rejected take-offs. The incidents ought to have triggered a more muscular response than another round of assurances. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s preliminary findings that were conducted after the crash that killed Pawar make the situation considerably harder to explain away. The runway had last been re-carpeted in March 2016. Its markings had faded while loose gravel was lying on the surface. There was no dedicated meteorological facility and no in-house aircraft rescue and firefighting unit and boundary fencing was inadequate. Baramati airfield, where regular flying-training and non-scheduled operations take place, is essentially an uncontrolled aerodrome. The question is why the state of things continue to exist? The maddening part is the timing. After the death of Ajit Pawar, did nobody think to ask whether the airstrip was fit for the traffic it was handling? Did nobody think a runway whose markings had faded and whose surface contained loose gravel warranted immediate intervention? Why should an airfield wait for a final accident report before basic safety infrastructure becomes a priority? And where, precisely, is the regulator? The AAIB can investigate. It cannot regulate. That responsibility rests with the civil-aviation system, particularly the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which is now being urged to ensure safety standards at uncontrolled airfields. But aviation safety cannot work on the principle that one agency investigates yesterday’s accident while another waits for tomorrow. The political irony is almost unbearable. Murlidhar Mohol is not merely Pune’s Lok Sabha MP; he is the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation. This is, quite literally, an aviation-safety problem in his political backyard and within his ministerial brief. The government says Baramati is now set for an upgrade. But infrastructure announcements are not safety measures until they are built, certified and operational. In India’s expanding aviation and developing regional air connectivity, there is an ugly contradiction in celebrating more airports while allowing existing airfields to acquire potholes, gravel and faded markings. Baramati has had its tragedy and two warnings since. The question is whether the government will act before the runway claims lives again.

BMC auctioning three land parcels to raise funds, says Aaditya

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Aaditya

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday alleged Mumbai’s civic body had decided to auction three land parcels to raise funds and make up for the “loot” of the metropolis by the Eknath Shinde government.


The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is being run by an administrator now, has decided to auction the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mandi (Market), the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Malabar Hill Receiving Station and the Worli Asphalt Plant, Thackeray pointed out.


“The sale of Mumbai is being done by the Eknath Shinde regime to benefit its favourite builders and contractors,” he alleged.


A criminal investigation will be conducted into the matter after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government comes to power, Thackeray added.


“So on one end, they looted the BMC and Mumbai and gave the money to their favourite contractors. Now, by auctioning these iconic and important land parcels, the BMC will be left without both funds and plots,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister claimed.


When Shiv Sena started controlling the BMC in 1997, its finances were in deficit but by 2022 his party turned around the fiscal health of the civic body, Thackeray said.


Alleging that the Shinde government wants to drive Kolis and fisherfolk out of Mumbai, he said, “We will oppose this. It has to remain and be made into a fish market, and (should be) in the ownership of the BMC.”


Aaditya puppet for urban naxals: Shelar

Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar has called Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray as a puppet for urban naxals after former’s comments on the Dharavi Redevelopment project and has also challenged him for a debate.

Ashish Shelar said that the project is a necessity and a priority project, adding that Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Congressleader Varsha Gaikwad are peddling lies.

Aaditya Thackeray seems to have become the spokesperson of urban Naxals. Without studying the subject (Dharavi) in detail, Aaditya Thackeray is speaking like an ignorant. I have seen that these people have been trying to set a narrative regarding Dharavi and the re-development work,” Ashish Shelar said.

He challenged Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad in a debate on the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

“Uddhav ji and the people of his party – Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad have started this false narrative regarding Dharavi. I openly challenge Aaditya for a debate. I want to ask him that 70 per cent of the homes in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project will go to Marathi people, Muslims and Dalits. It is their rightful home, so why are they putting roadblocks by creating a false narrative?”

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