The 92nd Foundation Day of the Indian Air Force is being celebrated at the Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, amidst the scorching heat. During the celebrations on Tuesday, an Air Force soldier fainted. Other soldiers took him on a stretcher for treatment.
Earlier on October 6, 5 people died in a stampede during the Air Force air show at Marina Beach in Chennai. Their last rites were performed on Monday. About 200 injured people are still admitted in the hospital.
The target was to gather a crowd of 15 lakh people to get this air show registered in the Limca Book of Records. The local administration claims that more people arrived than this and hence the arrangements went haywire.
When Bhaskar talked to the victims and investigated the government plan, three reasons for the accident came to light.
First: The air show was supposed to start at 11 am, but people started arriving from 7 am. There was a huge crowd at the metro and bus stations. Still, the administration did not estimate the crowd.
Second: As soon as the program ended, the traffic police started removing the crowd from Kamaraj Road, whereas this road was meant for VIPs including Chief Minister MK Stalin. The crowd had to be dispersed to remove them. This created a situation like a stampede.
Third: Only two health teams, 40 ambulances and 7500 policemen were deployed to handle 15 lakh people. The crowd had already covered the Marina beach and the service road. In such a situation, it was difficult for the ambulance to get out.
Health Minister said- Would 15 lakh policemen be deployed for 15 lakh? Tamil Nadu’s DMK government is under attack from the opposition for the chaos. On Monday, when the media asked Health Minister MA Subramaniam, he said in an angry tone that would 15 lakh policemen be deployed for 15 lakh. All the deaths occurred due to lack of water and crowd.
AIADMK leader Kovai Sathyan said, ‘If the Health Minister has any shame, he should resign immediately. People had to walk 10 kilometers. There was no arrangement for water. Ambulance did not arrive on time. The administration was busy serving CM Stalin, his son and family. They were sitting in AC tents. The government should be dismissed.’
Air show held before the 92nd Foundation Day of the Indian Air Force on 8 October An air show was held in Chennai on 6 October before the 92nd Foundation Day of the Indian Air Force. 15 lakh people gathered at Marina Beach to see it. Due to heavy crowd and heat, five people died, while more than 200 people fainted. The name of the air show has been included in the Limca Book of World Records.
No arrangement of water in the air show, stampede at the railway station According to many media reports, people who went to watch the air show told that there was no arrangement of drinking water on the beach. People sat thirsty for hours. At the same time, after the show got over at 1 o’clock, people left from there together due to which there was a traffic jam on the roads. Due to the huge crowd, a stampede occurred at a local railway station. Similar crowds were seen at different metro stations as well.
1. Karthikeyan of Tiruvottiyur went to buy a bike, fainted and died Karthikeyan (34) of Tiruvottiyur died in the incident. His wife said – There was a huge crowd on the beach. So my husband and I decided to watch the air show from a distance. We watched the show for about one and a half hours from the entry gate of the beach.
The woman said that at 1.30 pm her husband said that he will bring the bike in ten minutes. But even after two minutes her husband did not return. When I called him, he did not even receive the call.
At around 3.30 in the afternoon, someone called and told me that Karthikeyan had vomited. He was lying near the bike. After this, with the help of a policeman, I went to Napier Bridge. When I saw there, my husband was lying unconscious.
I took Karthikeyan to the government hospital in an ambulance, where doctors declared him dead. The woman claimed that if there had been a policeman near the Napier Bridge, her husband could have been saved.
She also said that many ambulances were parked near the bridge, but surprisingly, no one saw her husband fainting even though there were many people and medical staff present there.
2. John of Kurukkupet also lost his life. John (56) of Kurukkupet also fainted while walking towards his bike. According to his wife, she tried a lot to revive her husband. We did not get an ambulance immediately. On reaching Omandurar Government Hospital, doctors declared her husband dead.
The police identified the other deceased as Srinivasan from Perungalathur, Dinesh Kumar from Kurnool and Mani from Marakkanam.
K Annamalai, Tamil Nadu BJP Chief
Sarang, Tejas formed formations in the air show . 72 aircrafts including Rafale, Suryakiran and Sarang performed stunts in the air show of the Air Force. The biggest attraction point of the show was the Harvard T-6G Taxan aircraft used in the First World War. The Indian Air Force used Harvard as an intermediate trainer till 1974.
The show also saw heritage aircraft like Advanced Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, Sarang, Sukhoi 30 MKI, C17, C-295, Apache, Light Combat Helicopter Prachand, Dakota.
Air show in Chennai after 21 years After 21 years, there was no flypast and aerial display show in Chennai. For the third time, the Indian Air Force organized the air show on the foundation day outside Delhi. Last year the show was held on 8 October 2023 at Sangam area in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. In 2022 it was held in Chandigarh.
Air Force Chief said – target is to make all weapons in India by 2047. In a press conference before Air Force Day, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said that India needs to get ahead of China in terms of technology and speed in making military equipment.
He had also said that the Air Force aims to produce all its weapons in India by 2047 under the indigenisation programme.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited should produce 24 Tejas light combat aircraft every year to compensate for the supply delay.
