The Calcutta airport is spot-fixing — fixing spots where glass pieces from the facade can come crashing down on passengers. And for that, it’s tech tool of choice is the good ol’ brolly, also known as a fibreglass canopy.
Nearly 10 glass panes of the airport’s new terminal have crashed since March when the facility became operational and the last one fell within striking distance of two wheelchair-users on Tuesday.
Alarmed by the regular incidents of glass panes cracking and crashing, the authorities have started the process of erecting canopies at the 20 entrance and exit gates of the terminal’s city side and seven at the bus boarding gates on the air side.
“The canopies will protect passengers from broken glasses. It is a matter of concern and we’ve hired a consultant to find out the exact cause of the problem and its solution,” airport director B.P. Sharma told Metro on Thursday.
“The transparent canopies would be made of hardened fibreglass,” he added.
The cover-up route begs the question: why go in for a glass facade in the first place given that breakages are par for the course at all modern Indian airports?
But thereby hangs another tale.
At Calcutta airport, the canopies will initially be installed in the “priority areas where there is maximum movement of passengers”, the entrance and exit points and boarding gates. “Most number of glass panes have broken on the air side,” said an airport official.
17/05/13 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph
