DGCA slaps Rs 22.2-cr penalty on IndiGo for flight disruptions in December
Mumbai (PTI): Aviation watchdog DGCA on Saturday imposed a Rs 22.20-crore penalty on IndiGo for last month's massive flight disruptions and issued stern warnings to airline chief Pieter Elbers as well as two other senior executives.
Besides, the regulator directed the airline to furnish Rs 50 crore bank guarantee to ensure compliance with its directives and long-term systemic correction.
IndiGo cancelled hundreds of flights early in December, leaving thousands of passengers stranded across the country, as the airline was not adequately prepared to implement the new flight duty norms for pilots.
Following the large-scale disruptions in IndiGo operations, aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) set up a four-member committee headed by Joint Director General Sanjay K Brahmane to carry out a comprehensive review and assessment of the circumstances that led to such disruptions.
The panel submitted its report to the DGCA on December 27 last year.
"We are not taking this situation easily. We are doing an inquiry. We will take very, very strict action not only for this situation but also as an example," Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu had said, on IndiGo's massive operational disruptions, in the Rajya Sabha on December 8.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
