The Ministry of Civil Aviation has said that it will probe BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao's complaint that water supply to Tirupati airport was stopped by YSR Congress Party leaders after a few of the party members were not allowed to enter into the terminal premises. "We will examine the issue at our end and take necessary action," Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Twitter. Passengers and staff at the airport will not face any further inconvenience, he added.
The Tirupati Municipal Corporation had on Monday, January 10, stopped water supply to the Tirupati International airport and the residential quarters of airport staff, hours after a few YSRCP members were not allowed to enter the airport on Sunday, GVL Narasimha Rao alleged in his complaint letter. "This highhanded, vengeful and thoughtless action has inconvenienced hundreds of passengers who travel to and from Tirupati airport and has caused serious hardship to the families in residential quarters," Rao said.
Vengeful action did not stop at that, the BJP MP said in his letter dated January 13. Roads leading to the residential quarters were suddenly dug up which prevented movement of vehicles, including private water tankers, he added. Rao said airport officials also confirmed the veracity of media reports on the incident.
"Though senior officials of the Tirupati Municipal Corporation claim that the supply disruption was due to repairs, this explanation is flimsy and everyone knows that this was done as a retaliatory measure by the local leaders of the YSRCP," he stated in the letter.
The water supply to the airport and residential quarters was restored within a day after airport officials took up the matter, but the roads may take a week or longer to repair, as per district officials, Rao mentioned.
"Given the serious nature of the transgression and the essential nature of airport services, I am writing to request you to initiate a high-level, independent and time-bound enquiry into the Tirupati airport incident," he stated.
"I further request you to take up this matter with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to see that such incidents do not recur in the state and proper services to all airports operating in the state are maintained," the BJP MP added.