Govt takes grim note of Friday's Delhi airport chaos

The civil aviation ministry has sought an explanation from the airport developer here and will soon summon its top officials after a portion of a roof at the new terminal collapsed on Friday, even as torrential rains resulted in waterlogging at key areas and disrupted flights.

The civil aviation ministry has sought an explanation from the airport developer here and will soon summon its top officials after a portion of a roof at the new terminal collapsed on Friday, even as torrential rains resulted in waterlogging at key areas and disrupted flights.

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"The government has taken a serious note of the terminal flooding. We have sought a full report from the developers on flooding and the damage caused to a brand new terminal," a civil aviation ministry spokesperson told IANS on Saturday.

"This is not the first time it has happened. We propose to summon the top officials for an explanation soon. Action may also be taken accordingly," the official said, adding the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will also be a part of the inquiry.

A large portion of the roof on top of the the new domestic departure terminal (1D) flew off on Friday due to strong winds and the heavy downpour flooded some key areas including the boarding lounge and the ground offices.

The GMR group-led consortium Delhi International Airport Ltd, which operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport, said 20 flights out of the capital were rescheduled and 10 incoming ones had to be diverted because of the rains.

"During this time, owing to very high velocity winds and heavy rains, a few sheets of the roof came off in Terminal 1D. This resulted in some water entering in some portion of the terminal building," the consortium said in a statement.

"The maintenance team is working on a war footing to clear the water and restore the displaced sheets. Flight operations are on. We are hoping to clear the backlog in next couple of hours," said the statement at 7 pm, about an hour after the rains subsided.

The new terminal became functional March this year and since then its roof has suffered damage for the third time. In April and May portions of the roof had collapsed near the boarding gate, while the downpour on June 30, July 22 and July 27 caused severe water leakages.