The villages that are being relocated for the construction of an international airport in Jewar near Delhi have been inundated for the last five days due to incessant rains.

After local MLA Dhirendra Singh intervened and spoke with the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, Public Works Department (PWD) and irrigation department officials over the phone, the administration constituted a five-member committee to get rid of the problem.

“The response of officers concerned over the complaints of villages being inundated with storm water is being really lethargic. This is not the way to treat the farmers who have given their land for the construction of an international airport in the area. If the area is facing waterlogging, all officers concerned should deal with it immediately. They cannot leave the villagers on their own fate”, said Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh.

After the intervention from the higher officials, the drainage of water and unclogging of drains started in the villages.

“We received information about continuous waterlogging due to heavy rains in some villages in Jewar. We found that the drainage system was blocked at many points. We have started rectifying the problems and the water has started receding from the area. In a couple of days, all the water will be drained out of the villages”, Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate Manish Verma said.

This came a week after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted a site inspection of the airport and sought to address issues related to land acquisition for the mega project.

He also directed officials to ensure that “no outsiders mislead the villagers” about the land acquisition process.

Once all four phases are completed, the Jewar airport will have a capacity to handle 70 million passengers per year. The concession period for the airport, which commenced on October 1, 2021, will run for 40 years.