Country's premier Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) resembled a vast swimming pool on Saturday when heavy rain inundated the forecourt of the arrival area. Passengers, who came out of the Terminal 3, had to wade through floodwater.
Though there were no major disruptions in flight schedules, waterlogging at the airport posed a question on the emergency measures put in place by the Delhi International Airport limited (DIAl). A flight from Malaysia was diverted to Ahmadabad owing to heavy rain. The runway visual range (RVR) was bad since it heavy downpour was coupled with darkness shrouding the sky.
Meanwhile, a DIAl spokesperson said that despite heavy rain, passenger facilities remained completely unaffected -- including the baggage belts. "All flight operations were completely normal except one flight being diverted, while four flights had to go around for a few minutes," said the spokesperson.
The waterlogging at arrival area of the T-3 has triggered a blame game with airport authorities accusing (PWD) of throwing a spanner in the DIAl's efforts to clear the mess at the terminal.
However, senior officials of the PWD said the department is not responsible for this mess at T-3 as it was the sole responsibility of the DIAl that manages IGI Airport.
This was not the only occasion when T-3 was submerged during heavy rain. The first day of the monsoon, June 16, had wreaked havoc with the entire arrival lounge being flooded. Passengers had to wade through the cesspool with DIAl officials looking the other way.
Following the incident, a joint inspection at the airport was conducted on June 19 and authorities had claimed that the problem of flooding of the airport is expected to be resolved within 15 days. The inspection was conducted jointly by the officials of Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi International Airport limited (DIAl) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).