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During the first week of this month, a newspaper reported an incident where a woman passenger on her way to New York slipped and fell in the security zone of IGI Airport in New Delhi. The report said the reason for the fall was the depression or unevenness in the floor caused by tiling work in progress. As part of the modernisation of the airport, the floors were being redone and apparently there was a slight depression in the area where the new tiles were yet to be laid. In this case the passenger was examined by a doctor and subsequently upgraded to a higher class of travel so that she could travel in comfort. I quote this case to highlight the lack of safety consciousness at our airports. Today, all our major airports are under renovation. But obviously passenger safety is not central to this entire process. Otherwise an accident such as the one that I have described above would not have happened. If there is a difference in the floor level, there should be boards warning passengers of that. There should be better lighting in the area and a red line along the floor to indicate the difference in the floor level. This is a basic precaution that the airport authorities should have taken to prevent passengers from tripping. Fortunately, in this case (at least that is what the report indicates) the woman passenger got off lightly. She could well have broken her back or any other bone. I have also seen that the floor tiles being laid at many airports are extremely slippery. This will not do. The tiles should be slip-proof and safe. The same principle should apply to toilet flooring. Escalators should be maintained well and serviced at regular intervals. There should be adequate lighting near the first step of the escalator. If there is any carpeting anywhere, it should be smooth and without rough edges that could cause passengers to trip and fall. In short, every part of the airport should be designed and constructed in such a way that it is safe and accident-proof. In fact those entrusted with the job of upgrading and managing airports should treat the incident involving the woman passenger as a warning and take every step to prevent such accidents. I remember the case of a student — Sunil Nair — who was injured at Chennai International Airport. Nair had secured admission to the School of Organisation and Management at Yale University and was travelling to New Haven, Connecticut, from Chennai by Air India. At the airport, while he was waiting for his baggage to be scanned, a heavy iron rod fell from the conveyor belt on his right foot, injuring it. The pain was so severe that Nair had to be taken to the aircraft in a wheelchair. Even though the doctor at the airport advised an X-ray either at the Mumbai airport or at New York, Air India failed to ensure this. Subsequently, he was treated at Yale for the fracture and had to walk with the support of a stick for weeks and could not take up any assistantship during this period. Holding Air India, which owned and maintained the conveyor belt, responsible for the accident resulting from poor maintenance, the Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, in its order delivered in 1996, directed it to pay the student Rs 30,000 as compensation. I think Air India got off quite lightly at that time but today that may not be the case if those who manage the airports are found guilty of negligence.
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