Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport had to be shut down for nearly two hours on Friday evening after the afternoon’s heavy downpour that lasted less than thirty minutes.
There was flooding inside the new 1D terminal because the ceiling leaked in several places; a part of the roof near gate 14 also came crashing down and security men could be seen scampering around for tarpaulin sheets to cover the equipment.
It is learnt the Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken a serious note of the inconvenience caused and would “pull up” promoter GMR.
A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer said: “There is water in lifts and air-conditioners. Security equipment is not working either.” Passengers said the section of the roof that collapsed also brought down with it a light post.
Chief Operating Officer for developer Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), Andrew Harrison, said: “Due to high wind velocity and heavy rains, a few sheets of the roof came off in Terminal 1D. This resulted in water entering the terminal building.”
The security and airline staff had to shut down all operations for nearly two hours. Almost all domestic departures were delayed by over two hours and at least 10 incoming flights had to be diverted to other cities like Jaipur and Lucknow.
Harrison said: “The abnormal weather conditions, along with visibility as low as 100 metres, caused over 20 flights to get delayed and ten to be diverted. There was water in some areas of the departure lounge.”
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