Waterlogging sends operations at Juhu aerodrome for a toss

Ever since the onset of monsoon, flying operations at Juhu aerodrome have been severely affected. Sources from the heliport revealed that till date, nearly 35 passengers have had to cancel their joyrides or private chopper journeys while another passenger who had asked for an air ambulance to ferry a patient was not allowed to use it due to waterlogging at the aerodrome, just like every other year.

Meanwhile, Juhu aerodrome officials had earlier claimed that this year, they had made several arrangements to ensure that the aerodrome did not face waterlogging problems like earlier. However, private operators said that no arrangements had been made to tackle waterlogging and no drainage had been set up.

Juhu aerodrome aources said that from Saturday to Wednesday, flying operations were affected and on Thursday, operators heaved a sigh of relief as there was no rain or waterlogging on the runway for a change. An operations department official from the heliport said that the area had recorded 681mm rain and owing to rain, it was not possible to fly as helicopters needed a visibility of at least three kilometre to fly. Besides with the heliport not having the instrumental flying system, it was difficult to operate during rain.

A private operator said, “On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 15, 20 and eight passengers, respectively, were booked for joyrides but were forced to cancel their ride owing to a non-operational runway. An air ambulance was also demanded for a patient in Aurangabad but as the runway was under water, the ambulance was not allowed to fly.”

A runway official said, “At Juhu, the parking place of choppers was also flooded.” He added that the place where passengers wait to board and the runway were both submerged in water.