India: Adyar desilting to stop airport flood

CHENNAI - Ahead of the northeast monsoon, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started work to prevent a repeat of the 2015 floods which inundated the runway , taxiways and aircraft parking stands at the city airport.A series of checks are being conducted as the airport is located in an area through which rainwater from southern and eastern neighbour hoods flows into the Adyar river via drains crisscrossing the airport. It was these drains along with the river that caused the flooding.

The airport follows a checklist for pre-monsoon preparedness which includes steps based on the lessons learned in 2015. These comprise checking the terminal buildings, water flow in the drains, desilting of drains, removing vegetation that may block flow of rainwater, checking the storm water draining pumps and electrical cables, especially those linked to runway lights, as well as desilting the river under the runway bridge.

The AAI would also be clearing garbage and plastic that had choked the river 500 metres upstream and downstream from the runway bridge.

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