Planes pose threat to Indian monument

Vibrations from low-flying aircraft in New Delhi are threatening to damage to the world’s tallest brick monument, experts warned today.

Joint director general of the Archaeological Society of India (ASI), Dr B R Mani, said the 238ft-high Qutub Minar was under threat He told the Press Association: “We have apprehensions that vibrations caused by low-flying planes close to the monument are affecting the structure.”

Dr Mani added that the organisation was in touch with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to discuss diverting the flight path of aircraft to minimise any possible damage to the 11th century monument.

“There is a flight every five minutes, so the frequency of aircraft passing by is quite high,” Dr Mani said.

A new runway for New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport was recently constructed, which is just 1.5 miles away from the tower. It is capable of handling large aircraft, including the Airbus A-380, and is the largest in the country at nearly three miles long.

Flight capacity at the airport has now increased to 65-70 flights an hour.

“Planes coming in to land come close to the Qutub Minar because of the way the runway is inclined,” another ASI official said. “We have to take precaution since it is a World Heritage Site.

“The director general is in discussion with the airport authority over the matter,” he added.

AAI has reportedly said that they would conduct a study to assess the situation.

Earlier this year, a report indicated that the Minar has tilted between 3.5 to 4.5 inches from 1983 to 2005.

Construction of the tower began in 1193 by India’s first Muslim ruler Qutub-ud-din Aibak but was only completed in 1386. As a prominent example of Indo-Islamic architecture, it is the most popular tourist destination in the city.