Kerala floods: Kochi airport suffers loss of over Rs 220 crore, rebuilding work begins

The flooding in Kerala, worst the state has seen in a century, has caused an estimated loss of over Rs 220 crores to the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), an official said in Kochi on Tuesday. The Kochi airport was forced to shut operations till August 26 after flood water inundated the runways.

The official said that the airport management has started rebuilding of the damaged infrastructure, including the boundary wall that collapsed due to the floods.

The runway, taxi bay, duty-free shops and other areas of international and domestic terminals of the airport were also inundated in flood waters, damaging electrical equipment, including runway lights, the official said, adding that the solar power system of the world’s first solar-powered airport has also suffered damage.

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"We have launched efforts on a war-footing to rebuild the damaged infrastructure. Our initial assessment is that we have suffered an estimated loss of Rs 220 crores in the floods," PTI quoted the official as saying.

The airport is closed since August 18 and would likely open next week. By the time, the Naval Air Station, INS Garuda, has begun the operations of small civil aircraft. Air India’s subsidiary - Alliance Air –operated three flights on Monday. An Indigo flight also did a trial and will start operations from Tuesday.

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The southern state of  Kerala is facing century's worst flooding due to heavy monsoon rains. Most of its dams were overflowed and water had to be released due to which rivers overflowed. So far, over 350 people have lost their lives due to flooding and landslides caused by incessant rains. As per preliminary estimates that state has suffered a loss of over Rs 20,000 crore due to the flood.