‘Lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus…’: Scindia takes aim at Shashi Tharoor in airport chaos spat

Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia responded to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s criticism of the Delhi Airport’s handling during the winter fog season. In a series of posts, Scindia provided a detailed rebuttal, highlighting the government’s proactive measures and the technical complexities in aviation operations. Tharoor had criticised the aviation ministry in his posts, using various media reports to emphasise the airport chaos.Scindia, taking a dig at Tharoor, remarked, “it is for someone who is lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus that data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as research.” He addressed Tharoor’s concerns about the recent chaos at Delhi Airport, emphasising the critical importance of runway maintenance for passenger safety.

“Here are some actual facts for arm-chair critic Shashi Tharoor and the Cong IT Cell that might help tackle their lack of depth in understanding of technical sectors like civil aviation,” Scindia added.

Scindia acknowledged that unforeseen pollution incidents and the enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi led to a delay in runway recarpeting, pushing its commissioning by a month.

Responding to Tharoor’s portrayal of the recent chaos as a “Modi govt-made disaster,” Scindia clarified that runway maintenance work is a critical safety element, and any compromise with runway conditions directly jeopardises passenger safety. He explained that the maintenance was prioritised to be completed by December 15 before the onset of the fog season. However, due to pollution incidents and GRAP-IV enforcement, the recarpeting got delayed, and the revamped runway is set to become operational this week.

Tharoor had questioned the timing of runway repair, and Scindia clarified that maintenance work was essential for safety and was scheduled with priority. He addressed Tharoor’s concern about a crane blocking CAT III-B operation, stating that it was used for another project and would now operate only on non-fog days. Scindia refuted Tharoor’s claim about insufficiently trained pilots, presenting data that showed a significant increase in trained pilots over the years.

The aviation minister concluded by mentioning that the DGCA mandates airlines to deploy CAT IIIB compliant aircraft only with qualified crews during the winter season. Any violations are strictly dealt with by the regulator, with show cause notices issued to SpiceJet and Air India.