RAWALPINDI: Three days after a major portion of false ceilings came down during a heavy downpour at Islamabad International Airport (IIA), Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan visited the airport to assess the damages on Monday.

Aviation Division spokesman Abdul Sattar Khokhar said in a press release that the minister was briefed by the officials responsible for the maintenance of the building.

The minister along with the senior officials went to the rooftop of the building and inspected the drain pipes and rainwater leakage areas.

The minister was informed that the roof of the terminal building was made up of ABR sheets which had a total length of 4,000 metres of water channels.

The rooftop drainage system has the capacity to safely dispose of up to 150mm rain per hour.

Rainwater is disposed of through a modern/advanced siphonic system which sucks the water from the channels at a high speed before its disposal. Apparently, one of the siphonic pumps malfunctioned due to which a channel was flooded and the water fell down to level 3 at the international and domestic departure areas.

“The excess water caused a large number of false ceiling pieces to fall down,” he said.

Regarding minor seepage on the roof of the concourse area, the minister directed the concerned officers to immediately rectify the problem.

He also directed the project director as well as the airport manager to immediately submit a report along with the options available for rectification of the issue.

The minister had visited the airport in connection with a flag hoisting ceremony and a tree plantation drive on Independence Day about six hours after the collapse of the false ceilings. But he was kept in the dark on the damages.

However, the incident had been brought into the notice of senior officials of the Aviation Division.

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Director General Hassan Nasir Jamy has already ordered an inquiry into the heavy leakage of rainwater in the concourse halls, domestic arrival lounge, CIP lounges and international departure area of the airport.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2020