What was behind overcrowding and chaos at Delhi airport |
COMMENT: Something is not up and up. For several weeks now overcrowding and
serpentine queues during peak hours have been reported at immigration and security
checks from major airports like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Passengers are
missing flights. On Monday also Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia rushed
to Terminal 3 of the IGI Airport in Delhi to see for himself what is amiss.
Peak hour or no peak hour, the airport gives permission for airlines to schedule
their flights according to its capacity. And, only those passengers who have booked
their tickets will go to the airport. No issue about that. (And, the volume
is less than that of pre-covid) The crowding is at the check points. But the ruling
clerks decided that the number of flights should be reduced to solve the
problem of overcrowding at the check points!!!
Where is the catch? A simple and honest Minister, Scindia looks flummoxed.
There is also a multiplicity of 'cross-purpose' authorities at the airport and
various remote power centres are pulling the strings!
Tailpiece: Sack the Ministry of clerks, first. We need airport operator,
airlines and an aviation regulator, who will be directly answerable to the Minister.
Neither the legions of clerks, nor the remotely controlled security personnel.
We had done it once in the past, elsewhere.
Let a work culture usher in on its own, as the Americans had prescribed to
us decades ago!
|
NEW DELHI, Dec 12: As the chaos due to overcrowding continued for the second
week, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia made a surprise
visit to Terminal 3 of Delhi’s IGI airport (Indira Gandhi International Airport)
on Monday also.
As the overcrowding at several airports during busy hours has become unmanageable
ostensibly due to increase in air traffic, the Aviation Ministry last week asked
the airlines to reduce flights at peak hours and reschedule them. (In fact,
the air traffic volume has not reached the pre-covid levels.) The airports affected
by the reported rush, especially because of the holiday season, are Delhi, Mumbai
and Bengaluru.
In Delhi, passengers said they had to wait for two to three hours in the clearance
area before the final departure of the flight. This is going on for over a week.
Having to wait for hours in the clearing area, some passengers missed their
flights on Saturday.
The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said, "Additional manpower requirements
will also have to be addressed by all stakeholders, including CISF and Immigration,
to further improve the situation.” That includes deployment of additional systems.
T3 operates 500 domestic and 250 international flights with a daily passenger
load of around two lakhs. On its side, DIAL wants Phase 3A expansion plan to
be expedited.
The airlines were also asked by the Ministry to increase the strength of their
ground staff. Additional two X-ray machines have been installed at the T3 Terminal
in Delhi. There are currently 14 X-ray screening machines. Additional manpower
has also been deployed in the Automatic Tray Return Systems (ATRS) area. Two
more entry gates will also be opened for passengers at Terminal 3. More traffic
police will be deployed at the departure forecourt to avoid vehicular congestion.
Speaking at an event in Indore on Saturday, the Aviation Minister said some
airports are facing congestion and the bunching of flights during peak hours
will be avoided by rescheduling. He asked the airports to increase the number
of security officials and trolley capacity at entry points.
The use of DigiYatra (face recognition) for seamless and contactless travel
through the airport need to be encouraged. The more people use DigiYatra, the
less will be the congestion at the airports, the Minister said.
The Minister had also held a detailed discussion with the heads of all major
Indian airports, CISF and immigration officials on the issue of decongesting
the airports. He had also visited Delhi T3 terminal with a team of officials
on Friday.
According to a TOI report, the Delhi airport operator, Delhi International
Airport Ltd, is planning to reduce 33 flights - 14 from Terminal 3, 11 from
Terminal 2 and eight from Terminal 1 - of rush hours. Some flights may be shifted
from T3 to T1 or T2. T3 terminal handles 503 domestic and 253 international
flights daily. The traffic is, in fact, only just close to the pre-covid levels.
Air passengers have been complaining of undue delays and long serpentine queues
at major airports.
"Delhi Airport is becoming one of the world’s most disorganized and frustrating
airports for international travel, with very long lines before immigration and
security. Politicians and senior bureaucrats don’t see the nightly scenes of
chaos as they use VIP facilities," one of the twitteratis posted.
"Delhi airport is just crazy... it resembles fish market, Serpentine queue
at every level n non cooperating Staff of @airvistara Inspite of reaching one
n half hour early they did not let me board the flight," another one wrote.
|
|
|
|
|
SELECTIONS FROM OUR ARCHIVES |
|
Top Govt officer thrashed, kicked inside Bhubaneswar office: Incident sparks a debate
| |
The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.
|
|
UK's House of Commons votes to legalise assisted dying: What it means | |
ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!
|
|
What caused Air India Boeing 787 crash? Some questions, some answers | |
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
|
|
Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line brings Kashmir Valley on India's rail map |
- The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
- The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
- The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest
railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)
|
|
Work done, Elon Musk steps down from DOGE, leaves White House | |
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
|
|
Ailing Asiatic lion Pataudi too dies of bird flu at Kanpur zoo
| |
Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
|
|
48 tourist destinations closed in Kashmir following Pahalgam terror attack
| |
As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
|
|
Trump slaps ‘kind’, ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on trading partners; a 'lenient' 26% on India!
|
ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
|
|
Trump signs order to shut Education Dept - And the contrast with India
|
PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
|
|
Sunita, Wilmore's Dragon splashes down in Gulf: What delayed their return? |
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
|
|
All 80k health workers in US offered $25,000 voluntary buyout: Administering wrong prescriptions!
| |
The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
|
|
|
|
|
Previous Files
|
|
|
|
ARCHIVES
|
|
Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
|
|
|
|
Neighbours Calling
Bhutan
Nepal
Malaysia
Dubai
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
|
|
|