Integrated T3 terminal to be unveiled in style; lakhs of trees planted for beautification

Greener pastures for Delhi airport

Integrated T3 terminal to be unveiled in style; lakhs of trees planted for beautification

Intricate landscapes, variety of plants, cacti and bushes will now adorn the Delhi International Airport. With the airport authorities rushing in to meet the deadline for integrated T3 terminal in June-end, they are leaving no stone unturned to make it a grand affair. The authorities are in the process to plant around ten lakh trees and small plants to revamp the Delhi airport.u00a0

Neighbour's envy: Thematic diagrams showing the finished look of the
T3 with an abundant green cover

"The green project is already underway and by the end of June we are expecting to finish it. For external landscaping, about 320 different varieties of plants and trees will be used and 266 varieties of plants will be used for internal landscaping. Over 9,22,000 trees and plants will be planted for the entire project," said a Delhi International Authority Limited (DIAL) official.

There will be around 39 kinds of trees, 26 types of plants, 86 varieties of shrubs, 6 types of cacti that will be planted. Landscaping for an area of 70 acres outside the Terminal and 10,000 square meter inside the terminal building will be done. About 39 types of groundcovers and soft landscaping work will be carried out on the lawns covering 30,000 square metres.

The officials stated that most of the plants have been selected from plant nurseries across the country and a few varieties have been flown downu00a0 from abroad.
"A majority of the plants are from Indian nurseries, but exotic varieties of Orchids have been sourced from Thailand and Dioon Spinosa from Mexico," said the official.u00a0

To complete the mammoth task, DIAL authorities are taking experts' help. EDAW, an international firm in Hongkong has done the landscaping work for the airport. And along with a Bangalore-based landscape architect company - Beyond Built - which is assisting from concept to commission process in the project, the authorities are expecting to deliver a state-of-the-art piece of work.

"EDAW was involved in the landscape design of Hongkong International Airport, Hongkong Disneyland and many other international projects. We hope that the project sets an example for other airports in the country," added the official.u00a0 "About 10,000 plants will be regularly maintained at a nursery near the terminal. The nursery will also be used for research and development in horticulture for the terminal landscaping later on," explained the official.

Scaling new heights
Slated for opening in July, the T3 terminal is spread in an area of 5.2 million sq feet. It will be an integrated terminal handling both domestic as well as international flight operations. Delhi airport has become the busiest in India, leaving Mumbai behind and handles around 750 flights a day. The total passenger traffic at Indira Gandhi International Airport was 25.25 million flyers against 24.80 million at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in 2009. The new Terminal 3 building, currently under construction and expected to cost US $2.6 billion will have the capacity to handle an additional 33 million passengers annually by theu00a0 Commonwealth Games. On completion, the terminal will become the world's third largest passenger terminal after Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 and Beijing International Airport's Terminal 3.