DGCA Team Begins Multi-Day Safety Audit at Varanasi Airport

VARANASI: A two-member Directorate General of Civil Aviation team has begun a multi-day review at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, examining operational safety, records and the interface between daily flights and major construction work.

The team arrived on Wednesday morning and visited the terminal area connected with the recent accidental discharge of a licensed firearm during screening. Airport director Puneet Gupta said the visit was part of the regulator’s annual August audit and that the firearm incident was not formally the sole subject of the exercise. The distinction is important: the inspectors may observe the location while conducting a broader scheduled review.

The reported scope includes the runway, airside operations, air traffic control, security, lighting, communication and navigation systems, fire preparedness and compliance records. Inspectors are also expected to look at the new terminal, multi-level parking and tunnel works, as well as construction material kept near the runway environment.

An airport audit is not evidence that every area inspected has failed. Regulators review systems to identify non-compliance, weak controls and risks before they produce an accident. Findings can range from record-keeping gaps to directions requiring physical changes. The useful public information will come after the inspection, when any observations and corrective timelines are known.

Construction creates particular challenges at a functioning airport. Cranes, loose material, dust, temporary lighting and vehicle movements must be controlled so they do not interfere with aircraft, visibility or protected zones. Contractors and airport operators need one clear permit-to-work process, with responsibility documented for every shift.

The firearm discharge at screening, in which two workers were injured, had already raised questions about how licensed weapons are declared, unloaded and handled. That event is under separate scrutiny and should not be prejudged through the annual audit. Even so, safety systems are strongest when investigators examine both the immediate act and the procedures that allowed people to be exposed.

The DGCA team is expected to continue work through Thursday and Friday. During such visits, inspectors typically review manuals and logs alongside physical facilities because a clean-looking terminal cannot prove that maintenance, training and emergency drills occur on schedule.

Passengers are unlikely to see most of the audit. They may notice officials airside or brief access controls, but scheduled flights should be checked through airlines as usual. Travellers should not treat social-media claims of an “airport shutdown” as fact without an official notice.

Varanasi airport is expanding while handling a growing mix of pilgrims, tourists and business traffic. The value of the audit lies in testing whether safety governance is growing at the same pace. Once the review ends, a concise account of major findings and the deadlines for correction would give the public confidence that the process produced more than a checklist visit.