Water logging at Dimapur Airport causes flights to cancel on Thursday

May 20, 2022 39 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 20

As Dimapur received torrential rain in the early hours of May 19, major portions of the city faced severe water logging problems owing to clogged drains and deluges from rivers.

At Dimapur Airport, major portions of the runway became affected by water logging as all civil flights for the day came to a standstill. This was stated by Moatemjen Pongen, AGM (electrical) and Officiating officer of Dimapur Airport when The Morung Express contacted him in the afternoon.

He explained that as the airport is located in a lowland area, with the Chathe river flowing just a few meters away within its vicinity, along with many of the drains in the adjoining areas directly connecting or criss-cross at the airport, water gets seeped onto the runway during heavy downpour. “This had caused the flights to get cancelled on Thursday,” he stated. Moreover, he pinpointed towards throwing of garbage into the nullahs and drains, as major factors which had contributed to the problem as well.

In addition, according to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, the rainfall lasted for almost three hours in the morning and led to water logging of up to 60 mm, which is much more than the recommended 3 mm water on the runway. The report further mentioned that a flight that had landed in the early hours of the day could not take off.

Nevertheless, Temjen said that the issue has been resolved now “as we have cleared the nullahs and the water levels had subsided in the afternoon.”

“Hopefully by tomorrow (Friday) we will continue our operations as the runway is okay,” he added. Moreover, he mentioned that the airport authorities will be better prepared in the coming days through this experience so as to prevent other flights from being cancelled.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/water-logging-at-dimapur-airport-causes-flights-to-cancel-on-thursday