MP: More than 100 hospitalised, mostly children, from use of calcium carbide guns during Diwali
Bhopal, (PTI): More than 100 persons, most of them children aged between 8 and 14, were hospitalised in Bhopal and neighbouring Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh due to injuries sustained after using calcium carbide guns on Diwali, officials said on Thursday.
While 60 are admitted in government hospitals in the state capital, 50 are recuperating in facilities in Vidisha, including five with eye injuries, they added.
"These crude guns, made using a gas lighter, a plastic pipe, and calcium carbide, are in vogue this Diwali. The calcium carbide in the gun produces acetylene gas when it meets water and explodes upon contact with a spark," an official explained.
Small plastic fragments ejected from the pipe, like shrapnel, cause serious injuries and damage to various parts, especially the eyes, face, and skin, he said.
Bhopal’s Chief Medical Health Officer (CMHO) Manish Sharma told PTI Videos, “Carbide pipe guns are very dangerous. The 60 people injured by the use of these guns are still being treated in hospitals in the state capital. All are safe.”
Five persons are being treated at Seva Sadan Hospital, while others are admitted to Hamidia Hospital, JP Hospital, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), he added.
More than 150 cases were reported across Bhopal the day after Diwali, though many were discharged after first aid, another official said.
"Doctors at AIIMS are trying to restore the eyesight of a 12-year-old. Similar treatment is underway for two children in Hamidia Hospital, which has 10 children admitted at present," he added.
R K Sahu, head of ophthalmology department at Vidisha District Hospital, said 50 people were injured in the district due to carbide gun fire, and efforts are underway to restore the vision of five of them.
He added that 10 patients have been admitted to the district hospital in the past two days.
Dr. S C L Chandravanshi, head of the ophthalmology department at Vidisha Medical College, said 17 patients were admitted to the medical college on Tuesday and three on Wednesday, and all are undergoing treatment.
"One child underwent eye surgery due to serious injuries. Efforts are being made to restore the child's vision," he said, adding remaining patients are admitted to various private hospitals in the district.
Rupali Jain, an ophthalmologist at a private hospital, said 20 patients have been admitted to her hospital for treatment in the past two days.
Talking to PTI Videos, the families of 14-year-old Hemant Panthi and 15-year-old Aris, who are receiving care at Hamidia Hospital, blamed the administration for the availability of carbide guns.
"Such guns should not be sold in the market in the first place. Strict action should be taken against those who manufacture and sell these guns. Compensation should be provided to cover the children’s medical expenses," said Aris’ father Sarikh Khan.
CMHO Sharma said the administration is continuously taking action against those who manufacture and sell carbide guns.
Vidisha Superintendent of Police Rohit Kashwani said 228 plastic carbide guns and 102 carbide packets were seized and a dozen people were detained and were being interrogated.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, in a meeting with officials on October 18, had instructed district magistrates and police officers to ensure carbide pipe guns are not sold. However, they were sold rampantly in the markets, sources admitted.
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Indigo cancels 67 flights from multiple airports due to bad weather, operational issues
Mumbai (PTI): Domestic carrier IndiGo on Thursday cancelled 67 flights from multiple airports due to "forecasted" bad weather and operational reasons, according to the airline's website.
Of the 67 cancelled flights, only four were for operational reasons, and the rest were due to "forecasted" bad weather at various airports, including Agartala, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Varanasi, Bengaluru, among others, as per the website.
Aviation regulator, DGCA, has announced the period between December 10 and February 10 next year as the official fog window this winter.
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As part of the DGCA fog operations (CAT-IIIB) norms, airlines have to mandatorily roster pilots who are trained to operate in low-visibility conditions, as well as deploy a CAT-IIIB-compliant aircraft fleet for such operations.
Category-III is an advanced navigation system that empowers an aircraft to land under foggy conditions.
Category-III-A is a precision instrument approach and landing that enables a plane to land with a runway visual range (RVR) of 200 metres, while Category-III-B helps in landing with an RVR of under 50 metres.
IndiGo, whose operations are under DGCA monitoring after the cancellations of thousands of flights early this month, is already operating a curtailed schedule in compliance with the government's order.
Under its original winter flight schedule, the airline was permitted to operate 15,014 domestic flights per week, or about 2,144 flights per day, roughly six per cent higher than the 14,158 weekly flights it operated during the summer schedule of 2025.
However, after the massive disruptions, which saw the airline cancelling 1,600 flights on a single day on account of new rest norms for pilots, which allow more rest to the pilots, the government cut down the airline's domestic flight schedule by 10 per cent or 214 flights per day.
As a result of that, IndiGo can't operate more than 1,930 flights per day on domestic routes under its current winter schedule.
The Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline cancelled thousands of flights between December 1 and December 9 on account of a lack of proper planning, and crew shortage in implementing the new set of regulations for pilots' duty period and rest, which were put in place from November 1, thereby causing severe hardships to lakhs of air travellers.
Following this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) formed a four-member panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the Rahul Bhatia-controlled domestic carrier.
The panel, which has already grilled IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras as part of its probe, is expected to submit its report by this week.
Meanwhile, IndiGo, in a travel advisory on X, said, "Low visibility and fog over Bangalore has impacted flight schedule. We are keeping a close watch on the weather and doing our best where you need to be safely, smoothly".
Reacting to the advisory, an aggrieved passenger, in an X post, said, "My flight on December 20 from Bhubaneswar to Ahmedabad got delayed for more than five hours, and today my return flight from Ahmedabad to Bhubaneswar also got delayed more than three hours with the same excuse as bad weather. I am travelling with my senior citizen parents, and this delay is not acceptable. Need proper explanation, along with compensation".
