Passengers complain about long summer walk to Darbhanga airport terminal

A mandatory hundred meters plus walk between the entry point at Darbhanga airport to the civilian enclave during the summer season is causing grave inconvenience to passengers, including senior citizens and children

A mandatory hundred meters plus walk between the entry point at Darbhanga airport to the civilian enclave during the summer season is causing grave inconvenience to passengers, including senior citizens and children. The airport authorities say several measures are under discussion to overcome the restriction on pick-up and drop facility enforced by the Indian Air Force, which owns the civil and military airport in south Bihar’s most prominent city.

Darbhanga airport, which earlier only operated military aircraft, started civil air transport operations in November 2020 under Central government’s UDAAN scheme

“It is difficult for passengers with heavy luggage to manoeuvre both the baggage trolley and carry their children from the entry point to terminal building or vice versa,” said Kavita Thakur, a passenger at the airport.

It is equally tough for senior citizens to stand in a queue in hot and humid weather outside the entrance gate, awaiting their turn and then walk with the baggage trolley to reach the civilian enclave, said another passenger.

Another passenger said that the waiting time can be long and unbearable under the hot sun.

“You need to stand outside the entrance gate under the open sky for a period of at least 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the crowd, even as Bihar Military Police (BMP) security personnel take their own time to check ticket and ID proof of passengers before being allowed inside,” the passenger said. The security issues at the airport are managed by the BMP.

Wing commander cum public relations officer (PRO), ministry of defense, Prayagraj region, Shailendra Pandey said the airport terminal had the capacity to cater to only 150 passengers. However, the daily footfall is about 2000 passengers for the 6-8 flights in operation presently. He added that the vehicular traffic associated with the passengers was extremely high and beyond the capacity of the terminal.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) parking can only house 30 staff cars. The entry to the terminal is through a narrow Indian Air Force gate and with no effective management of orderly flow of traffic and security concerns, the passengers were asked to alight at the gate after which they have to walk an approximate distance of 200m, he added.

Airport director (APD) Biplab Kumar Mondal said he requested Darbhanga DM for e-rickshaw facility about three to four months ago and also requested state civil aviation secretary last year to allow operation of golf carts. “When something new comes up, you need to upgrade facilities gradually. Efforts are going on to expand the facilities,” Mondal added.

“Two battery-operated tricycles, assisted by a home guard jawan, were provided to ferry senior citizens and differently-abled passengers from the entrance gate to the civilian enclave,” the APD said.

Darbhanga airport, which earlier only operated military aircraft, started civil air transport operations in November 2020 under Central government’s UDAAN scheme and has since seen encouraging traffic--173,811 passengers till April 11. Expansion of the airport’s civilian operation has been cleared in principal pending acquisition of land.

“It has been a great start. The figures for the first five months (November 8- April 7) of traffic are a testimony to this fact. It is a matter of pride for us,” Bihar water resources and information and public relations minister Sanjay Kumar Jha tweeted on Monday. During this period, Darbhanga airport catered to 165,990 passengers and operated 1030 flights, the minister claimed.

Meanwhile, the blame game on the ‘delay’ in the airport’s expansion continued with former Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad alleging chief minister Nitish Kumar was not serious about the project.

“Chief Minister was never interested in the development of Darbhanga Airport. Just like no initiative has been started for the development of Purnia Airport till date,” Azad said, referring to the proposed airport in Purnia city, for which an MoU was signed in July 2017 and 50 acres of land needed to be acquired to set up the civil aviation facility at the IAF station.

A senior state government functionary, preferring anonymity, said CM Kumar was not sitting “idle” and the state government transferred ₹121 crore for acquisition of 31 acre of land as demanded by AAI for the construction of the permanent civil enclave to the account of district land acquisition officer some two years ago. He claimed land acquisition process could not materialise due to pending approval for land swapping by IAF authorities. In the meantime, AAI forwarded another proposal to state government for acquisition of 78 acre of land, to be directly transferred to AAI for expansion and development of the airport. “It will need no less than ₹339 crore. How can anyone blame state government for the delay on this score in the given situation,” he pointed out.

Darbhanga district magistrate (DM) Thiyagrajan SM, said the district administration had already identified 31 acres of land towards the eastern portion of Darbhanga airport to be swapped with IAF in lieu of equal portion of land for the construction of civil enclave building. However, IAF’s headquarters didn’t respond to grant of NoC for the purpose. “It is not clear to whom we are supposed to hand over the land (given the pending NoC from IAF),” he said. In the meantime, AAI rejected the initial proposal to swap 31 acre of land needed for the civil enclave. They have now demanded 78 acres land for the purpose, he added.