Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Thursday wrote a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia expressing his concern over the "woeful and dire" safety conditions in which airlines are currently operating in the country.
This came in the wake of several safety-related incidents and emergency landings in the past few months.
Viswam, in a letter to the Aviation Minister, said that there have been around 21 mid-air safety incidents across different airlines, out of which 10 of them have occurred in the last month alone. "Along with this, multiple airlines have faced malfunctions such as non-operation of air conditioning which led to suffocation of passengers with medical conditions," read the letter.
He further said that such a sorry state of affairs is unpardonable and creates tensions among the already apprehensive population regarding air travel.
"It is a stark reminder that a meagre 4 per cent of the population uses air travel, placing India alongside some poorer African countries, in terms of the per capita consumption of air tickets. The rising burden of airlines with the increasing cost of aviation fuel further casts doubt in our mind regarding the compromise of safety procedures as a cost-cutting measure. However, it cannot be treated as an excuse to comprise on passenger safety," he added.
The CPI MP urged the Union Civil Aviation Minister to ensure a comprehensive review and audit of airlines across the country. The safety and well-being of passengers cannot be comprised under any circumstances, he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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