E-Paper
Maharashtra government’s Covid-19 rules for entry from other states land fliers and Mumbai airport staff in trouble
Fliers find it difficult to get the reports on time, irked with the high price at airport; CSMIA staff has a tough time stopping those who don’t have the papers
Ten days on, passengers as well airport officials are still struggling to implement the state government’s new rule that made carrying a recent negative Covid-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test report mandatory for travellers from Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa.
While passengers find it difficult to get the reports on time, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) staff has a tough time stopping those who don’t have the papers. Another complaint is the absence of a price cap on the tests conducted at the airport, similar to that on private laboratories in the state. While the RT-PCR test at the airport costs ₹1,400 per person, the state has capped it at ₹980 for anyone who walks into a laboratory. Citizens are charged ₹1,400 for samples collected from Covid care centres, hospitals or dispensaries, and ₹1,800 if swab is collected from home.
Prasad Pandit’s tweet read: ‘Me and my brother had to undergo a mandatory Covid Test at Mumbai Airport as per guidelines of @CMOMaharashtra Tests were conducted by #SuburbanDiagnostics. The testing centre was a chaos with no respect to social distancing. @AAI_Official security was nowhere to be seen. The reports were expected in 24hours and its been more than 36hours. In calling their helpline for an update - they informed my test was never conducted and has been unresponsive since. @OfficeofUT @rajeshtope11 why make tests mandatory if we can’t expect a result.The guideline is from the state government and #SuburbanDiagnostics is appointed by them to conduct these tests. There has to be an accountability. Moreover the passengers are paying full amount for those tests.’ (sic).
Another passenger who landed Mumbai on December 2 in his tweet said, “I have done my test on 2nd Dec. at airport by suburban diagnostic, still waiting for reports as on 8th Dec....after login, its showing report not ready for download.” (sic)
A query sent to Suburban Diagnostics chief executive officer (CEO) Sushant Kinra did not yield a response till the time of going to print.
Despite several attempts, health minister Rajesh Tope was not available for a comment and health secretary Pradeep Vyas did not respond to HT’s text messages on the price slab.
An airport official working closely to implement this norm said, “There is additional staff at the airport to guide people. If people find the government-approved rate of ₹1,400 unaffordable, they have the option to carry a negative report along with them. Why don’t they do that?”
A CSMIA official said, “We are following all norms and protocols laid down by the state government and are ensuring they are implemented and followed.”
HT had earlier reported that passengers had complained of violation of social distancing norms and long queues during the testing.
Kinra had then said that they had started to display QR codes more prominently and asked their staffers to allow passengers to fill forms using tablets, apart from the physical forms.
Starting Friday, Suburban Diagnostic increased their counters from five to eight. Thirty-two people have been working in three shifts to ensure that sufficient staffers man the counters and help passengers.
“Instead of daily passes, we also give weekly airport entry passes now. This will help staffers be at their workstation on time,” Kinra had said.
