Though nearly 15 flights were delayed, arrivals and departures of flights at Chennai airport continued on Sunday despite the incessant rains in the city, sources said.
Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said, though there was some water logging in the airside (where flights are parked and departures and arrivals happen), there was no disruption. “We have a team of people deployed in the airside to monitor the water levels. We are also coordinating with Public Works Department officials.
Though water from Chembarambakkam lake is being released, for now, the water levels have not risen to alarming levels. Since a part of the secondary runway has been constructed over the Adyar river on a bridge, we have been constantly checking. There are CCTV cameras placed at strategic locations to check the levels. Everything is under control,” an official said.
The main runway has been handling all the flights without any issues so far and six pumps have been put to use to remove the waterlogging in the runway, officials said. “All essential equipment in the airport like navigational aids, Instrument Landing System antenna and radar are not affected so far,” he added.
The terminals were crowded in the morning between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. and flights were delayed because many passengers were arriving late owing to rains and there were long queues in the airport. “These delays too were not beyond half hour to 45 minutes and occurred only in the morning,” a source said.
In 2015, Chennai airport was inundated like the rest of the city with 1,500 passengers stranded inside and 22 aircraft submerged; in 17 locations the airport’s boundary wall was damaged as well. Following this, AAI asked IIT Madras to do a study to prevent flooding in future and carried out measures like desilting of Adyar river near the runway and also the storm water drains in the neighbouring areas of the airport.
