The Cochin International Airport Limited will frame a revised disaster management plan drawing lessons from the flooding that forced it to shut its runway on Monday for the first time since its commissioning in June 1999.
Water swept back to the airport through its drain that runs into Chengal Canal, which is linked to the Periyar. The river had swelled up after Edamalayar dam shutters were opened on Sunday.
At a press conference on Tuesday, CIAL managing director V.J. Kurian said it was the first such incident of reverse flow since 1961. He said the airport constructed the runway at a height of 8.5 metres above the sea level taking into account the maximum flood level of 6.5 metres in Chengal Canal.
Mr. Kurian said the unprecedented flooding on Monday was never anticipated, prompting the airport to have a revised disaster management plan. The airport has marked the level to which water rose in airport and adjoining areas.
Mr. Kurian said a detailed study would be conducted to suggest solutions, probably some arrangements jointly by the Irrigation Department and CIAL at the point where Chengal Canal and the Periyar meet.
The managing director said the drainage was in good condition as it was subjected to routine pre-monsoon checks in May.
Mr. Kurian said the airport didn’t face any immediate threat in the event of releasing water from the Mullaperiyar dam. The dam was getting an inflow of 3,000 cusecs of water a day of which Tamil Nadu draws 2,300 cusecs. That leaves 700 cusecs of water, which will be released through the spillway. It will have to flow a good 40 kilometres to reach Idukki dam, which despite its own heavy intake will still be able to hold the water from Mullaperiyar.
When asked whether filling up of paddy fields for the construction of the airport had led to the flooding, Mr. Kurian said there was no point in raising the argument now that the airport has been constructed.
