A portion of the ceiling of the recently inaugurated passenger building at Port Blair airport tore off and could be seen dangling amidst gusty winds in a viral video. Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia claimed that it was a “false ceiling” that has been “deliberately loosened” for CCTV work.
Last Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new passenger terminal building at the Veer Savarkar International Airport, which was built at a cost of ₹710 crore.
Taking a swipe at the government after the video of the damage to the airport building emerged, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on Twitter, “The Prime Minister will inaugurate anything these days — even if it’s unfinished or substandard infrastructure (highways, airports, bridges, trains, etc). More than willing ministers anxious to boost their Sensex with him oblige. It’s the taxpayers and citizens who pay the cost. Such a sorry state of affairs in New India.”
This sparked a response from the Mr. Scindia who wrote, “The structure is outside the terminal building. Besides, a part of the false ceiling had been deliberately loosened for CCTV work. Heavy winds (about 100 km/hr) later, led to the swinging panels as seen in the video. The false ceiling had been restored after completing the work.”
