Chennai:Fears of Chennai airport shutting down during heavy rains looms large in the minds of passengers since the construction of stormwater drains to prevent the inundation of the runways has been dragging on for more than a year. The project for the construction of the stormwater drain commenced in June last year but only 60 per cent of the work has been completed till now.
The water from the nearby Tirusulam mountain, the water flowing on the GST Road and the water coming from the residential areas of Meenambakkam flood the airport which lies between those areas and the river Adyar. Before the setting up of the airport, the water from the hills and the surrounding areas used to drain into the Adyar river. After the setting up of the airport and the construction of several houses around it, rainwater flows into the airport and towards the Adyar river.
Every year, the airport needs to shut down for one or two days when rainwater floods the runway, making flight operations impossible. Besides, the airport is forced to cancel operation of flights or delay the taking off when the runway is covered with a thick sheet of water for a few hours.
The parking area of the airport, too, is affected by stagnation of water during the rainy season and the new project planned with the advice of IIT experts is aimed to prevent the flow of water on the runway and parking area and drain the water to the Adyar river.
When the airport is shut down for a few days during the rainy season, the airlines companies complain of heavy losses and the reputation of the Chennai airport takes a hit at the international level, affecting the expansion of flight services and growth of the airport itself. The frequent delay and cancellation of flights is also affecting the business, economy and tourism of the state.
Following advice from IIT-M experts, the Chennai airport authorities announced the construction of a 4.3-km-long stormwater drain, at a cost of Rs. 123 crore, to bring a permanent solution to the problem of rainwater flooding the runways and forcing the shutdown of the airport during the northeast monsoon season.
Once the construction of the stormwater drain is completed, the flooding and stagnation of water will stop and flight operations will not be affected. The work for the project was expected to be completed before December but it is still dragging on and the stormwater drain for a distance of only 2.3 km (60 per cent) has been completed.
So, this year also, passengers expressed fears that airport operations in Chennai would be affected during heavy rains. Even after a short spell of rain on Saturday, 20 flights were cancelled and one of them was sent back to Hyderabad. The passengers are afraid of what would happen during a heavy downpour.
Airport officials said the work was delayed due to certain restrictions and rules concerning flight operations. Construction materials could not be kept near the runway and cranes, too, are not allowed. The permission of the defence ministry is required for digging in some of the places.
However, the officials hoped that there would not be any inundation of the runways during the rains since flood mitigation work in the Adyar river has been completed. In 2015, the airport runways were flooded as water from the Adyar river entered the airport from behind it, they said, adding that such a situation is unlikely this year since the entire Adyar river has been desilted and all the encroachments have been cleared.
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