Two Delhi-bound flights from Indore diverted to Bhopal; loose bitumen found on runway

NEW DELHI: Two IndiGo flights scheduled to land in Indore were diverted to Bhopal on Tuesday after loose bitumen was detected on a section of the runway during a routine inspection amid ongoing recarpeting work.According to the Indore Airport PRO, the repair and cleaning work was completed within 20 minutes, after which the runway was declared safe and flight operations resumed. "During routine inspection, while runway recarpeting work is in progress, some loose bitumen was observed on a section of the runway surface. The Civil Engineering team immediately attended the site, and the required repair and cleaning work was completed within 20 minutes.” “After ensuring that the runway surface was safe and fit for operations, the runway was handed over to ATC for the resumption of flight operations. Due to the temporary disruption, two IndiGo flights, 6E6605 (DEL-IDR) and 6E6219 (RPR-IDR), were diverted to Bhopal. Normal flight operations have since resumed."Meanwhile, a fire broke out late Wednesday in the dry grass in the non-operational area of Indore Airport in Madhya Pradesh.According to Fire Sub Inspector Roopchand Pandit, information about the fire was received and teams were immediately deployed to control the blaze.No casualties were reported in the incident, and flight operations continued uninterrupted, officials said.Local labourers at the site said the fire spread through the adjacent campus and the nearby jungle area."Even we don't know how this happened, we have been worried for a very long time, and we called everyone... We don't know how far this fire has spread yet. The fire brigade has also arrived, and everyone is trying to extinguish the fire," a labourer told ANI.