90 hurt after tent collapses
MIDNAPORE(WESTBENGAL): As many as 90 people were injured on Monday after a section of a tent caved in during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at a public rally in West Bengal’s Midnapore.
“Out of the 90 admitted to the hospital, 66 were males and 24 female. Fourteen were discharged after preliminary treatment. The condition of two is critical,” said Panchanan Kundu, the principal of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital. The Prime Minister and other BJP leaders on the dais were, however, safe. He rushed to see the injured at Midnapore Medical College and Hospital after the meeting.
“Fortunately, none of them has got severe injuries,” Samit Dash, president of West Midnapore district unit of the BJP, said.
The Centre has sought a report from the West Bengal government over the incident, a home ministry spokesperson said.
Volunteers and locals at the venue said a part of the tent gave away after some people climbed on the iron rods holding up the canopy. They said the heavy rains also added to the accident.
“The number of people swelled so much that several persons climbed the rods to get a view of the dais and the leaders triggering the collapse,” Atanu Das, a local who was present there, said.
“We will investigate and file a case in the collapse incident,” said West Midnapore district police chief Alok Rajoria.
Dipak Mahato, an 18-year-old from Salboni, said he fell down after people started running following the structure’s collapse and injured his left hand.
“I was under the shed that caved in. Before I could escape an iron rod descended and hit my shoulder. My daughter-in-law who was accompanying me pulled me out,” Swarna Mahato, who came to attend the rally, said.
Modi praised the audience for not leaving the spot even after a chaos following the incident. “Today, I witnessed a new force of the people of Bengal. Can anyone imagine that one-third of the pandal came down and yet the meeting continued peacefully? I cannot think it happening anywhere. I shall remember this meeting for the rest of my life,” Modi said. NEWDELHI: Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) may be left without security cover if a payment dispute between the airport’s operator and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is not resolved soon, according to officials familiar with the development who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In the first week of July, the Union home secretary wrote to the ministry of civil aviation saying the home ministry would have no option but to withdraw security if payment isn’t expedited. HT has reviewed a copy of the letter which adds that this will start with the withdrawal of security to the cargo terminal
According to the officials, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) airport owes over ₹600 crore to CISF. The amount has added up, owing to a dispute over how much the paramilitary force has to be paid, and the dispute has never been resolved. CISF has repeatedly claimed that DIAL is only making partial payments to it rather than the full amount. Over the past four years, for instance, DIAL paid at least ₹100 crore less every year for its annual security bill, CISF claims.
Representatives of the airport blamed rising costs. “DIAL collects PSF (passenger security fee) from passengers as per a tariff decided 10 years back and the entire collection passes through an escrow account subject to CAG Audit. DIAL is meeting security-related expenses out of this escrow account... Due to increase in costs over the collection over a period of time, there is a deficit in PSF(SC) account,” said a spokesperson for the operator, adding that the company is
in talks with CISF and the civil aviation ministry over the issue. The GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) is a company owned by GMR Group, Airports Authority of India and Fraport.
CISF, one of seven security forces under the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), guards critical installations and facilities across the country including all airports and atomic power plants. The costs for its services are paid into a consolidated fund managed by the MHA, which pays CISF’S salaries.
In the case of airports, the cost of security is recovered from passengers. A CISF officer, quoting the letter written last week, said that the home secretary has given DIAL till September to make the payments. Otherwise, he added, CISF personnel would be withdrawn from the cargo terminal in phases immediately after that, and pulled out completely from the passenger terminal by December. “The secretary has talked about de-induction in case DIAL fails to make the payment in three months. He has also said that DIAL should make the payment of three months in advance into a consolidated
fund,” added the CISF officer who asked not to be named.
Rajeev Ranjan, Director General of CISF, declined comment citing the sensitivity of the issue.
The civil aviation ministry did not respond to requests for a comment.
Last year, DIAL said that there was a need to increase PSF. At the moment, every departing passenger pays ₹130 as security fee and ₹70 as a facilitation charge, which DIAL wants to increase. According to people familiar with the matter, the payments were regular till September 2012. In 2016-17, DIAL collected ₹336 crore from passengers but paid ₹204 crore to CISF, saying the rest of the amount went towards loan interest, service tax and administrative charges.
At present, more than 4,000 CISF personnel are posted at Delhi airport, up from nearly 2,400 in 2007. “CISF, wherever it is deployed, works on cost reimbursement basis and the installation whether it is private sector or government establishment, has to pay for it. I don’t know how someone can refuse to pay the money,” said Arvind Ranjan, former director general of CISF.