NEW DELHI: Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday responded to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor‘s critique of the handling of Delhi Airport’s operations during the winter fog season. In a series of posts, Scindia provided a comprehensive rebuttal, emphasizing the government’s proactive measures and the technical complexities involved in aviation operations. This after the Congress leader in a series of posts on X attacked the aviation ministry. Tharoor added different media reports in his posts to highlight the airport chaos.
Taking a dig at Tharoor, Scindia started his response saying ” it is for someone who is lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus that data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as “research”. ” The Union aviation minister began by addressing Tharoor’s concerns about the recent chaos at Delhi Airport, suggesting that Tharoor’s reliance on selective press articles for information was inadequate. He then detailed the critical importance of runway maintenance for passenger safety, explaining that the maintenance was scheduled with the highest priority to be completed before the onset of the fog season. However, he acknowledged that unforeseen pollution incidents and the enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi led to a delay in the recarpeting of the runway, pushing its commissioning by a month.
Scindia was responding to a series of posts by Shashi Tharoor calling the recent airport chaos as “Modi govt-made disaster.”
The Congress MP started the exchange with a post “Delhi Airport has been in chaos recently. The young professional wanting to go home for Makar Sankranti. The Army officer excited to visit his ancestral village for Lohri. The anxious son trying to get home to take care of an unwell parent. Thousands of peoples’ lives and schedules have been disrupted by a regular, predictable, foggy winter day. It’s a Modi Govt-made disaster, a result of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s neglect and incompetence. See the thread that follows.”
In his second post, Tharoor questioned the timing of airport runway repair. “In 2008, at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore, Delhi IGI Airport got a brand-new CAT III-B compliant runway. CAT-III B is a type of Instrument Landing System, allowing pilots to land even when there is fog or low visibility of 50 metres.
In total, Delhi has 4 runways, 2 of which are CAT III-B compliant. In all its wisdom, the Modi government began maintenance work on one of the two CAT III-B runways in September 2023, fully aware that it would not be ready for the winter!” he said.
Scindia responded to this and said: “Runway maintenance work is a critical safety element for aviation operations, and any compromise with runway conditions directly jeopardizes passenger safety. As a result, the maintenance was taken on top priority to be completed by 15th December before the onset of the fog season. However, due to pollution incidents and enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi, the recarpeting got delayed, resulting in a delay of one month in its commissioning. The revamped RWY is getting operational this week.”
Taking a dig at Tharoor, Scindia started his response saying ” it is for someone who is lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus that data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as “research”. ” The Union aviation minister began by addressing Tharoor’s concerns about the recent chaos at Delhi Airport, suggesting that Tharoor’s reliance on selective press articles for information was inadequate. He then detailed the critical importance of runway maintenance for passenger safety, explaining that the maintenance was scheduled with the highest priority to be completed before the onset of the fog season. However, he acknowledged that unforeseen pollution incidents and the enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi led to a delay in the recarpeting of the runway, pushing its commissioning by a month.
Scindia was responding to a series of posts by Shashi Tharoor calling the recent airport chaos as “Modi govt-made disaster.”
The Congress MP started the exchange with a post “Delhi Airport has been in chaos recently. The young professional wanting to go home for Makar Sankranti. The Army officer excited to visit his ancestral village for Lohri. The anxious son trying to get home to take care of an unwell parent. Thousands of peoples’ lives and schedules have been disrupted by a regular, predictable, foggy winter day. It’s a Modi Govt-made disaster, a result of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s neglect and incompetence. See the thread that follows.”
In his second post, Tharoor questioned the timing of airport runway repair. “In 2008, at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore, Delhi IGI Airport got a brand-new CAT III-B compliant runway. CAT-III B is a type of Instrument Landing System, allowing pilots to land even when there is fog or low visibility of 50 metres.
In total, Delhi has 4 runways, 2 of which are CAT III-B compliant. In all its wisdom, the Modi government began maintenance work on one of the two CAT III-B runways in September 2023, fully aware that it would not be ready for the winter!” he said.
Scindia responded to this and said: “Runway maintenance work is a critical safety element for aviation operations, and any compromise with runway conditions directly jeopardizes passenger safety. As a result, the maintenance was taken on top priority to be completed by 15th December before the onset of the fog season. However, due to pollution incidents and enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi, the recarpeting got delayed, resulting in a delay of one month in its commissioning. The revamped RWY is getting operational this week.”
