Imphal: A day after an under-construction building collapsed at Manipur’s Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal on Wednesday evening, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) asked the state government’s Planning and Development Authority (PDA), an agency which executes the infrastructural works, to undertake an inquiry into the incident.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday at his office, director of Bir Tikendrajit International Airport, S Senthil Valavan, said that the AAI has advised PDA to conduct the inquiry and submit the report to them.
Meanwhile, the regional headquarters (NER) of the AAI in Guwahati will also conduct a separate investigation into the incident to ascertain the cause and bring out the report accordingly, Senthil said.
The director also disclosed that the project, supposed to be an electrical and mechanical workshop for the international airport, had started its initial work this year after signing a pact between AAI and state agency PDA in November 2017.
Of the estimated total budget of Rs 8.65 crore for the ambitious project, so far, as per the director, Rs 3.45 crore have already been released for the deposit work.
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According to reports, a total of 50 workers were engaged at the site when a portion of the ground floor was collapsed right after completion of concrete layering of the single floor cargo terminal building at around 5:45 pm. The incident left eight labourers were injured, including one in critical condition.
Soon after the incident, rescue teams, including the Indian Army and Assam Rifles rushed to the site and rescued the injured workers from the accident spot. Later, the injured persons were taken to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for first-aid.
“We were worried about the concrete debris and we used the JCBs to cut the steel and remove the debris. During the search and rescue, we also used the live detecting machines to find out if any person was left under the debris but everything was fine,” added Senthil
So far, of the total eight injured, four were referred to Shija Hospital for further treatment, two got admitted at RIMS and two were discharged after being administered first-aid, as per reports.
On the other hand, soon after the incident, AAI’s stakeholders both in regional and head office were alerted and are constantly monitoring the situation.
“Immediately, I have conveyed this incident to higher authorities, including the regional office in Guwahati, and also I have appraised our central headquarters in Delhi. Now, they are also aware of the incident and constantly monitoring the situation,” added Senthil.
