GMR Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Shamshabad, is noted for eco-friendly features but how many know that a large reservoir with a water capacity of 6,00,000 cubic metres has been built through rainwater harvesting to meet the good part of water requirement throughout the year!
The airport has other rainwater harvesting structures to utilise the run-off generated from various zones from the ‘airside’ covering runways and taxiways, which is collected through a dedicated network of drains into a a large holding tank of capacity 1,35,000 cubic metres
A recharge basin has also developed on 40 acres in the airside with 10 artificial recharge wells to help rehabilitate ground water levels helping the airport to have a rainwater net recharge estimated at 1.729 million cubic metres per annum, an official spokesman claimed on Thursday.
On the eve of the ‘World Environment Day’, the RGIA officials maintained that the country’s sixth busiest airport had taken “environment to be at its core since its inception” as the country’s first Greenfield PPP airport in 2008 spread over 5,000 acres.
“The management is taking efforts to maintain plant nursery, huge landscape and rainwater harvesting to ensure that natural eco-system is thriving. It had also received the ‘Green Airports Platinum Recognition 2020’ for its best water management in the Asia Pacific region for the Category: 15 to 35 million passengers per annum,” he said.
Main access road has 12-km long four-tier landscape on both sides with lawn, ground cover, shrubs and trees, the three-metre median running too is dotted with shrubs, palm trees equipped with cloud-based fully automated irrigation system. Inside the terminal, there are over 15,000 plants of various species, types and heights displayed at various locations of the building.
Apart from the unique vertical garden covering 150 square metres and the green terminal building, there is a 10 MW capacity captive solar power plant. It is also the only second airport in the country to have entire taxiway edge LED lights and soon to become 100% LED-lit.
Water is efficiently used with latest systems and waste water treatments with two sewerage treatment plants of 925 KLD capacity. “Treated waste water is recycled for use in flushing, cooling tower make-up water and for watering the greenery while STP sludge is used as manure,” the spokesman added.
