At the Juhu airport, located in a trough, a ritual unfolds when it pours. Helicopters parked in hangars are moved to safer ground — a concrete platform 4 ft above the ground, right in the middle of the 384-acre airport. That was ONGC's solution after helicopter charter companies spent Rs 100 crore on repairing helicopters parked at the 87-year-old airport during the July 26, 2005 deluge.
Ideally, an airport should be located a distance from the city. "An airport has concretised ground that doesn't allow rain water to drain naturally, which is why they have elaborate drainage networks," says Robey Lal, an airport planner. During monsoon, an airport is only as good as its drainage network, provided it doesn't lie within a city, in which case it must rely on a city's drainage network. This wisdom helped planners of newer airports such as the ones in Bengaluru, Kochi and Hyderabad. But the older ones in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai function on a plan-as-you-go basis.
10/12/15 Manju V/The Times Of India
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Ideally, an airport should be located a distance from the city. "An airport has concretised ground that doesn't allow rain water to drain naturally, which is why they have elaborate drainage networks," says Robey Lal, an airport planner. During monsoon, an airport is only as good as its drainage network, provided it doesn't lie within a city, in which case it must rely on a city's drainage network. This wisdom helped planners of newer airports such as the ones in Bengaluru, Kochi and Hyderabad. But the older ones in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai function on a plan-as-you-go basis.
10/12/15 Manju V/The Times Of India
