Gujarat’s Health, Family Welfare and Medical Education Minister Rishikesh Patel on Thursday confirmed that a week after the deadly Air India accident in Ahmedabad, DNA samples of 210 victims had been found with their families and 187 bodies were handed over to family members.
In a post on social media X, Patel wrote, “19/06/2025, was updated by 8:30 am. Number of DNA Milan-210. Contacted relatives. Number -210. Number of bodies left-187. The remaining earthly remains will be handed over soon.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation issued new draft rules to tighten control of structures threatening aircraft safety. The draft under the title of aircraft (demolition of obstacles) Rules, 2025 was released on June 18 and it will be implemented after being published in the official Gazette.
The objective of the rules is to give the authorities the right to take immediate action against the buildings and trees that are higher than the height limit in the specified airport areas. It is seen as an active step to prevent potential accidents caused by obstructions in flight paths.
The draft states, “Where a notification has been issued by the Central Government under the sub -section (1) of Section 18 of the Act and the officer in charge of the concerned airport is the reason to believe that a building or tree violates the provisions of the said notification, it will give it to the owner of the said section as per the procedure (3) of the said section.
Under the draft, any structure violating the prescribed height limit can be given notice by the officer in charge of the airport. Owners must submit detailed information within sixty days – the dimensions of the structure and the site plans -. Enforcement action can be taken for non -compliance, including demolition or decrease in height.
It said, “The officer in charge of the concerned airport will have to immediately send such a violation report to the Director General or an officer authorized by him.”
For physical verification, the authorities have the right to enter the campus in the daylight after informing the owner. In cases of non -cooperation, officials can proceed based on available information and send the matter to DGCA.
It further states that, “Before sending details to the Director General, the officer in charge of the airport will have to be satisfied about the truth of the details and for this purpose, he will have the right to enter the respective premises and physical verification of the building or tree dimensions, as it is, with the appropriate prior notice of the day and the owner, which will be obliged to give full support during such physical verification.”
If there is no compliance, then the officer -in -charge will have to inform the case of the case to the District Collector, which will be responsible for ensuring that the work of sabotage or pruning should be done as per the order. This process will be similar to the process adopted to remove unauthorized construction.
