The NHRC has taken serious view of the frequent falling of glass panels at the Chennai airport and has issued a notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The notice, which said the incidents “endangered the safety of travellers”, was in response to a petition filed by S.K. Samy, an advocate. The petitioner claimed that though Chennai airport was modernised only in 2012, there have been several incidents of collapse of false ceiling and glass panels. The notice says: “The airport has witnessed 61 incidents of glass fall in recent times, without any substantive action taken by the concerned authorities.”
Justice D. Murugesan, a Member of the NHRC, noted that it was the “cardinal duty” of the airport and airline operators to ensure the safety of passengers. “It is really surprising that the authorities appear to have not paid heed to the safety concerns of the people. If the allegations levelled are true, the matter needs to be inquired into,” the notice said.
The petition was filed after a glass door inside the airport collapsed about a week ago. However, officials said the door shattered after a staff member inside the terminal rammed a trolley into it. Airport director Deepak Shastri said, “We haven’t had a glass panel fall for eight months now. If people ram into glass doors and break them, it gets reported as if the glass panel fell on its own.”
