Roach Invasion at Chennai Airport

CHENNAI: They say you see all sorts at the airport. But, on a Tuesday morning marked by a spell of rain, a large number of cockroaches stormed out of the sewers and headed straight for the departure gate at the Chennai Domestic Terminal. According to an airport source, the roaches had always been in the sewers and drain pipes below the newly expanded portion of the airport that is under construction, but “maintenance personnel have managed to keep the menace under the surface.” After the skies over Meenambakkam opened up and the area recorded 23.2 mm of rainfall, the entire approach to the arrival and departure gates was flooded. As an informed source said, the drainage in that particular area was clogged, prompting the roaches to pour out in large numbers. Much to the fear of passengers, service personnel and CISF guards, the roaches rushed out into the portico in droves.