KOCHI: The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), which suffered severe damage in the mid-August deluge, has submitted an insurance claim of Rs 336 crore. The insurance claim was filed with the public sector New India Assurance Company Ltd (NIACL), the airport’s insurer, said a CIAL spokesman.
The CIAL is located at Nedumbassery near Aluva, which was submerged for several days in the floods.
CIAL has an insurance cover of Rs 2,500 crore with New India Assurance. The airport, which withstood the heavy rain and flooding from August 11 to August 15, announced on August 16 at 5.40 pm that it was “temporarily” suspending its operations till 2 pm on August 26 “due to very high flood situation and key essential like runway, taxiway, apron are under submerged condition”.
A review meeting of the airport held on August 22 decided to extend the date of resumption of operations by three more days till August 29 as 90 per cent of the staff got affected with the flood and are out of station. In the days following the closure of CIAL operations, the naval base was operating air services on a limited basis.
As much as 30 lakh-sq-ft of its built-up area and 1,400 acres of the operational area were covered under a thick layer of slimy mud due to the floods.
The New India Assurance Company Ltd has also received a claim for Rs 200 crore from Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) for the losses it suffered in the floods. KMRL also has an insurance coverage of Rs 2,500 crore with the general insurer.