Following the joint inspection at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Tuesday, authorities said that the problem of flooding of the Airport is expected to be resolved in another 15 days.
This will be possible once the PWD constructs a two km long temporary drain near NH 8, which will prevent surplus water from adjoining areas to enter the airport as well as the Airport Metro premises. The inspection was conducted jointly by the officials with Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi International Airport limited (DIAl) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The officials pointed out that the inspection was conducted to check the drainage system at the Delhi Airport, which causes perpetual inundation of the Airport premises. Dinesh Kumar, Engineer-in-Chief, PWD said, “The department will construct a two km long drain near NH8, so that the water stagnating at Mahipalpur and Shanker Vihar does not seep into the premises of the airport as well as the airport metro. The drain will also ensure that the water flowing from these areas also does not flood the Northern Access Road, which is a low lying stretch, affecting the traffic movement to the airport.”
He added that the department will ensure that the drain is constructed within a span of 15 days, so that the rain does not obstruct the passenger movement at the airport and the metro. “It was also observed during the inspection that the some of the connections of the drainage system had been obstructed due to construction work by the NHAI. These drains will be functional once the NHAI’s work in the vicinity is completed,” he added.
The plan was prepared during a joint inspection of the Delhi Airport conducted by the officials with all three departments. The authorities spruced into action a day after the Chief Secretary, DM Spolia instructed them to resolve the issues that led to inundation at Delhi Airport on Sunday, hassling hundreds of air travellers.