Weak fundamentals

Weak fundamentals -- Unsafe skies spell poor growthAtilde;?India must be unique among the nations of the world in requiring the personal i...

Weak fundamentals 8212; Unsafe skies spell poor growthAtilde;?India must be unique among the nations of the world in requiring the personal intervention of the Prime Minister before it can even begin to deal with an alarming track record in air safety. Air traffic controllers at Delhi8217;s Indira Gandhi International Airport have been asking for a fresh corridor for a long time, insisting it was impossible to handle a high traffic volume safely if all the aircraft use the same flight path for both takeoffs and landings.

With last November8217;s head-on collision between a Saudia 747 and an Ilyushin transport, their fears finally came true. But the lesson does not seem to have been appreciated by our elected representatives or the Minister for Civil Aviation, whose motives are often less than transparent.

After making ritual noises last winter, they kept the safety issue on the back burner for six months, though all that was needed was some liaison work with the Air Force, which would have to give some of its airspace to civilian traffic.

On their trips abroad, our politicians are indefatigable champions of infrastructure development, boldly going forth and asking for direct investment in roads, bridges, ports and telecommunications. Give us our asphalt and macadam, they say, and we will show you what fast-tracking is all about. Significantly, however, nothing much ever comes of it.

Even when a promising prospect appears thanks to the initiative of the private sector, it is quickly scuttled. At home, the very same politicians use the same shibboleth to exonerate themselves of stupidity and worse.

They shake their heads wearily, insisting that India would have made as much progress as was expected in Manmohan Singh8217;s time but for insoluble infrastructure bottlenecks. The tiger can never spring, because the springboard has rotted right through.

It is a pity that the infrastructure issue only finds political usage, because it is true that all growth hinges on it. India may have excellent possibilities for exporting capital goods, but nothing will come of it if delivery schedules are not met and letters of credit thereby discredited.

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It may be a tourist Mecca, but again, it will not manage to see significant growth if travellers find their plans thrown out of kilter by erratic transport facilities. And the most important element of infrastructure, in this context, is a safe, efficient airline network, because that is the gateway to the country.

The question most frequently asked by visitors to India is: how reliable and safe is air transport in India? The answer, usually, is: indifferent. Delhi8217;s airport, in particular, has had an unenviable track record since the 1970s, when a domestic flight crashed uncomfortably close to a nearby residential colony. Today, the total number of flights landing and taking off from Delhi8217;s airports has multiplied.

In addition, a large number of aircraft overfly the region. So it is hardly surprising that two aircraft recently found themselves on a collision course halfway to cruising altitude. In fact, the number of close shaves will only grow unless air traffic gets more attention. And as a corollary, Delhi will become an increasingly unpopular destination with foreign travellers.