Ahmedabad crash probe pending, but hostels on site to be razed for memorial

Fifteen days after Air India’s London-bound Boeing 787 crashed in Meghaninagar in Ahmedabad, killing 260 (one body remains to be identified), the Gujarat government has decided to raze 13 buildings – Atulyam 1 to 12 – that serve as the staff quarters for senior doctors of Civil Hospital, BJ Medical College, UN Mehta Hospital and BJ Medical hostel.

Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said: “The state government has taken a decision to set up a memorial at the AI crash spot and clear all the buildings and move them away from airport.” The buildings will, however, still remain in the same vicinity, he added.

This statement was made even as doctors and students were asked to return to their respective residential quarters near the spot where the AI aircraft crashed.

Also read | Ahmedabad crash: Who allowed tall buildings and a slum near the airport?

Constructions under scrutiny

The 12 four-storied buildings are all part of the Civil-Medicity, a prized project of the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. It was first announced in 2011.

The constructions have come under scrutiny after the crash. While two buildings – Atulyam-11 and BJ Medical College Hostel – are heavily damaged, the fire from the crash site partially damaged Atulyam 2, 3 and 4, which are adjacent to the undergraduate hostel.

On June 25, the doctors and students returned with their families to Atulyam 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 and 12, after receiving a notification from the state health ministry.

What is significant is that these hostel buildings are being investigated by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of Gujarat’s road and buildings department, which oversees the construction of medical buildings in the state.

Recent constructions

“These buildings are relatively new and have been built post 2015. One of them is just a year old. Although, they did not collapse completely on impact, they are not in any condition to be inhabited again,” said a department official, who is on the team investigating the Medicity Project buildings near the airport.

“Nobody should live there until we prepare our full report,” he added.

The buildings are also a subject of investigation being carried out by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

The Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority has been assisting the AAIB in providing necessary documents regarding the construction and permissions documents of the 13 buildings, an AUDA official told The Federal.

Also read | Ground report: Kin of Ahmedabad AI-171 crash victims grapple with grief

“However, the state government has already gone ahead and announced the buildings will be demolished to make a memorial at the spot. The announcement has also come along with the Union Civil Aviation Ministry’s draft of the new Aircraft (Demolition of Obstructions) Rules, 2025,” the official pointed out.

What the rules say

The Aircraft (Demolition of Obstructions) Rules, 2025 that will come into force once published in the official gazette, will empower state authorities to take action against high-rise structures and tall trees that exceed height the prescribed limits in designated aerodrome zones and funnel zone (security areas) of the airports.

The draft said, “Where any notification has been issued by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 18 of the Act and the officer-in-charge of the concerned aerodrome has reason to believe that any building or tree exists in violation of the provisions of the aforesaid notification, he shall serve a copy of the notification on the owner of the building or tree, as the case may be, in accordance with the procedure laid down in sub-section (3) of said section.”

Notification served

Further, an AUDA official pointed out, “As per the new Aircraft (Demolition of Obstructions) Rules, 2025, the officer-in-charge of an ongoing investigation under AUDA will have the power to serve notice directly to the owners of any structure found violating the prescribed height limits near an aerodrome or funnel zone.”

Earlier, the AUDA had to intimate the Revenue Department that in turn apprised the respective civic body of the area.

The civic body authorities then issued a notification to the concerned owner. “Now the notification will be served directly from the AUDA authorities,” said an AUDA official.

“After the notification is issued, the owners must submit detailed information, including details of the dimensions (height, area/land occupied etc.,) of the structure, within 60 days. AUDA will now have the power to take prompt action like issuing order for immediately reducing height of the building or demolishing the building if the owner fails to comply within stipulated time,” he added.

Heavy damage

The rule comes into effect after the London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane plummeted in a highly populated area in Meghaninagar and then crashed into the four-storied building Atulyam – 11, the residential quarters of the senior resident doctors and three-storied undergraduate hostel of the BJ Medical College.

Also read | What Air India must do to arrest its freefall post Ahmedabad plane crash

Both buildings suffered heavy damage leaving eight people, which included doctors and their families dead on impact. The buildings Atulyam 2,3 and 4 adjacent to the undergraduate hostel were also impacted by the fire that spread quickly prompting the authorities to vacate the thirteen buildings.

Rajendra Kumar, the Secretary of Civil Aviation for Gujarat responded to questions from The Federal on how the Medicity Project buildings were situated within the funnel (security) zone of Ahmedabad airport and for violating the Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI). (The state urban planning bodies refer to URDPFI’s guidelines to allocate land and constructions for infrastructure.)

“This is going to be a complex investigation with multiple subjects under scanner. It usually takes three to four months to complete such investigations. We will know all the answers after we have the report,” said Kumar.

However, Kumar refused to comment on whether the buildings had approval from the Airport Authority of India (AAI), as per the URDPFI guidelines that dictates any construction beyond 20 m height in airport funnel zone, is to be cleared by the AAI.

Vulnerable buildings

What’s more, there are other buildings near the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) International Airport premises that are also being investigated by the AAIB.

Also read: India won't allow UN aviation investigator to join Air India crash probe

At least two high-rise residential societies in Meghaninagar, which has 151 towers with 24 flats each, appeared to be violating the URDPFI guideline.

A Gujarat Special Task Force (STF) official, who assisted in the initial ground investigation around the crash site by the AAIB, said, “If the aircraft had fallen three seconds earlier, it would have fallen on top of the massive residential township that contains 151 buildings. Each building contains 24 flats.”

“The township is just 750 meters from the crash site. Another four-storied residential complex with six towers is 1.8 kilometers from the site. These constructions are too close to airport and were saved by a whisker. Prima facie, it seems that the pilot found a relatively empty spot amidst a heavily populated area – the backyard ground of the BJ Medical hostel to crash the plane. It looks like the pilot might have saved many lives on ground even while knowing there is no way out for those on board,” added the official.