The monsoon has rained down on the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport’s parade and how! lofty promises were made when Terminal 3 was flooded on June 16. Nearly a month to the day, it rained again, and things were back to square one.
As air travellers wade through muddy water within the terminal every time it pours, Delhi International Airport ltd (DIAl) and PWD are busy in a never-ending blame game.
While DIAl harps on the poor drainage system by PWD on roads outside, the latter says it is not responsible for water-logging at the airport. “The drain, which will take care of flooding at the airport terminal according to DIAl, will only rectify the problem at the underpass located on the way to Terminal 3 and not inside airport premises,” was the PWD’s take on Sunday.
Washing its hands of Saturday’s mess at the swanky international terminal, PWD said it was the onus of the airport operator.
“PWD is constructing a drain to avoid water from areas surrounding the airport from entering the Northern Access Road, which falls in the way to the Terminal 3. The permanent drain, which is being constructed from the Mahipaplpur T-junction till the underground track of the airport Metro, will prevent flooding of the underpass. However, the drain will not solve issues inside airport premises,” said Dinesh Kumar, chief engineer at PWD.
“Construction of the 1,300-metre drain is almost complete, with 1,100 metres in place. The rest will be completed by August 15. The drain will prevent excess water from gathering at the underpass,” he added.
However, DIAl blames it all on poor drainage of surrounding areas and the low level of the airport. Downplaying the flooding of June 16, DIAl had said water from the vicinity gushed inside T3 due to poor drainage. DIAl had emphasised that local authorities had recently started work on augmenting facilities, which would prevent water-logging in the future.
A joint inspection of airport premises was carried out by PWD, DIAl and officials from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) after the water-logging on June 16. The then lieutenant Governor had ordered a probe and sought a solution to the perennial problem. PWD had then decided to construct the drain.
Nonetheless, a few hours of rain left IGI Airport’s Terminal 3 waterlogged once again on Saturday, with passengers exiting through the elevated
departure terminal till water was drained out.