Chennai Airport has closed down its airfield from 9.17am to 11pm, according to official sources. It is the first time since 2015 in Chennai, the floods had forced the airport to shut all its services for at least four days.
There were many passengers who were waiting for their fights and due to the cancellation they were stranded on the roads for many hours as the flights could not take off because of the gusty winds and rains. Adding to the problems, the water from the Adyar river has made its entry to the runaway. Earlier, there were five flights which were scheduled to depart from Chennai were cancelled and 23 flights were diverted due to the adverse weather conditions. Two flight arrivals were also cancelled, according to the sources of Chennai airport.
Meanwhile, there were many passengers who left for their home while others decided to have stayed back. On the other hand, there were many aircrafts which were still waiting at the tarmac to depart once the weather turns normal, airport sources added. Food and other arrangements have been made for those staying back as part of the contingency plan. The groundmen of the airport have also been advised to ensure the safety of the passengers who were staying back at the airport. They have also been asked to handle the safety of the ground support equipment and the operating personnel.
The last time, this similar incident occurred was in 2015 because of the flood loaded city. The incident propelled the Airport Authority of India to join hands with the Indian Institute Technology to map the geography of the airport. Therefore, they used a drone to plan a long-term solution to prevent flooding.
Following to that event, it was then planned to map the airport including the surrounding water bodies up to 5-10 kilometers radius from the airport.
