In fact, Safdarjung airport poses as much threat to the PM’s residence as Delhi’s main airport at Palam does. An aircraft flying from or towards Palam and straying from its flight path will take only six seconds to reach the Prime Minister’s residence. No counter-attack is practically possible within six seconds of a flight straying from its path. Looked this way, there is a constant airborne threat to PM’s House unless the Palam airport is shifted out of Delhi.

On the other hand, many countries follow better systems to safeguard their prime locations. In the US, civilian aircrafts are not barred from flying near the White House, but the aviation authorities enforce strict regulations over their movement, including fingerprinting and conducting background checks of all pilots before they are allowed to fly to Washington. In London, strict on-ground security enforcement has allowed commercial flights to use the conventional flight path that goes near Buckingham Palace. There is no reason why similar enforcements cannot be mandated at Safdarjung and other sensitive airports in India. The airport at Safdarjung is Delhi’s oldest and it represents more than our aviation heritage; it is precious aviation infrastructure that could be utilised at a time when Delhi’s main airport at Palam is reeling under chronic congestion. In my view, the government should give its decision a rethink and restart civilian operations here.

The writer is a Congress MP in Rajya Sabha