Mumbai: A portion of the airport boundary wall collapsed during the heavy downpour in the city on Wednesday afternoon, leaving the runway, located at some distance, vulnerable to intrusion. Airport authorities have temporarily blocked the gap with a metal sheet after clearing the debris.
Eight flights had to be diverted to neighbouring airports on account of the incident. Four aircraft were made to go around and another four were cancelled. The runway was closed intermittently several times, and once during the afternoon, it was closed for 15-20 minutes.
Sources said the densely-cluttered slums adjacent to the boundary wall of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) had hindered the task of promptly repairing the walls.
An airport official said: "Workers could not go to the other side of the wall as there was no space for it. There was hardly any space for the crane to move. This led to delay in clearing the debris."
03/07/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis
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Eight flights had to be diverted to neighbouring airports on account of the incident. Four aircraft were made to go around and another four were cancelled. The runway was closed intermittently several times, and once during the afternoon, it was closed for 15-20 minutes.
Sources said the densely-cluttered slums adjacent to the boundary wall of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) had hindered the task of promptly repairing the walls.
An airport official said: "Workers could not go to the other side of the wall as there was no space for it. There was hardly any space for the crane to move. This led to delay in clearing the debris."
03/07/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis
