Chennai Airport - Grievances - Response from AAI

As shared on my Facebook wall since 12th May 2015:

Courtesy my brother Krishna Murthy, who invariably takes on all civic issues with concerned authorities within his bandwidth, managed to elicit some response to his repeated follow up and queries from Chennai Airports Authority on the recent episodes of 'repetitive' falling of ceiling. 

With his permission, I am sharing the response received from AAI, Chennai below: Rest is self-explanatory. 

Let's all hope good sense prevail so safety and security of passengers and all the inmates of various commercial establishments who are working 24/7 in the Airport premises.  Let's give ample opportunity for the larger good to happen in the interests of General Public. 

This is shared purely with an intent to display 'what's going on, as a ground reality, nothing more nothing less, period. 

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this is based on my usual interaction by email with Chennai Airport authorities, Civil Aviation of India and Airports Auth. of India and Central Govt grievance lodging sites, I used to get responses about my communications to them re: Chennai airport , every time they used to respond quickly. But this time the below response came a bit late but seems much after internal inq's and based on their feedback, here is their latest response to me , fyi just sharing.

ksk (K.S.Krishnamoorthy) 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: PGO Chennai
Date: Wed, May 6, 2015 at 2:43 PM
Subject: Observations made on Chennai Airport (MOCAV/E/2015/00426) Dt. 4th Apr, 2015
To: "ksk.kallur@gmail.com"
Cc: Airport Director Chennai , GM OPS Chennai , gmgfschn , jgm ops ch , pgofficerchq

Dear Sir,

This has reference to subject  grievance lodged on the CPGRAMS portal subsequently forwarded to us for redressal, in this context we have the following submission to make:

            At the outset the news write ups appearing in media and the facts and figures mentioned there in are exaggerated, unverified probably gathered from unreliable sources aimed at generating hype.  We from AAI have given rejoinders to some of these news items but nothing was put to print so far.

            2. Not to forget, such kind of unwarranted, irresponsible and false reporting, at times, results in avoidable negative publicity which deters the people from using the airport and go for alternative locations. This not only causes embarrassment to the great city like Chennai but also affects the image and reputation of this great state.

             3. There are certain incidents of glass panels falling down and false ceiling caving in but not all of these have fallen due to poor workmanship. In fact, some of them are accidentally brought down by some of the staff working at the Airport. However, the figures mentioned and the information shared on certain websites are far from being true. In fact the very existence of some of these sites is unknown.  In this back drop, it is unfortunate and unjust that some of our esteemed customers who have reposed faith in us for long are jumping to conclusions, based on these unverified write ups.

            4. Notwithstanding the above, we at Chennai Airport have initiated the following augmentation measures to justify our claim and clear the air as far as public perception is concerned:

1. We have taken up the issue of glass panes with I.I.T. Madras for conducting a technical study, results of which are awaited.
2.  We have erected Stainless Steel barricades at ground level so as to prevent general public accessing those areas to prevent any untoward incident.
3. The POP/ Gypsum Boards used as side panels along with AC vents are being replaced with Alcotel material to augment safety. Although the traditional POP / Gypsum boards are no way inferior or unsafe.
4. We have constituted an Intergrated Maintenance Unit (IMU), consisting a group of officials from Engineering, Housekeeping to constantly monitor the facilities and their timely maintenance.

            5. It is pertinent to mention here that around 2000 Employees of AAI along with those of CISF, Airlines, Concessionaires are working under the same roof and it forms our duty to ensure their safety apart from that of our valued customers, the traveling public. “Perform or Perish” – holds good with any Organization and AAI is no exception.   Therefore we humbly request you to repose faith in our efforts and commitment for the cause of Aviation in India and support us in our constant endeavour to offer best facilities, infrastructure and services.

            6. The proposed transfer of this airport to private operators under PPP model is pending for long and is hampering further development of the airport. More delay will further increase the woes of traveling public.

            7.  Factual and responsible besides ethical journalism is our request for the betterment of all the stakeholders of this airport.

With Regards

S.S.Raju

DGM(Ops-AOCC)

for PGO, AAI-Chennai Airport.

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