DIAL goes spiritual for terminal's safety

New Delhi: With just over a month left for the inauguration of Terminal 3 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the GMR Group-led consortium mandated to operate the Capital's airport decided to go spiritual.
The reason being that the last time it had been entrusted with building a new terminal (1D), its roof had collapsed just two months after its inauguration, causing a major embarrassment to the company.
So this time around the management wants to make sure that nothing untoward happens.
For this, pujas and hawan s were performed for five days at the ramp leading to the new terminal, which is scheduled to be inaugurated on July 3.
More than 300 priests from across the country (most of them from south India) were specially flown in to Delhi to perform the rituals. The civil aviation ministry, including minister Praful Patel and those from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and Airports Authority of India attended this hi-profile event.
The five-day-long hawan started on May 23, a day after the Mangalore air crash and concluded on May 27.
GMR Group chairman G. M. Rao attended the pujas every day along with family members. Sources said that several VVIPs in Delhi too attended the ceremony.
However, rituals alone may not be enough to make things run smoothly as international airlines are hesitant to shift to the new terminal because of its steep rental.
At Terminal 2, from where international airlines presently operate, the rent is Rs 400 per square metre. But DIAL is offering space at Terminal 3 at Rs 1,600 per square metre.
With 502,000 square metres up for grabs at Terminal 3, DIAL can earn over Rs 80 crore every month with the new rentals.
04/06/10 Faizan Haider/Mail Today/India Today

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Categories: Airports Jun 2010