Crowded Patna airport throws caution to wind

The Patna airport presents a picture in contrast to the central government advisory asking states and union territories to avoid mass gathering in light of novel

The Patna airport presents a picture in contrast to the central government advisory asking states and union territories to avoid mass gathering in light of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

HT Image

The departure lounge inside the airport terminal building is invariably congested, with passenger queues extending sometimes to the entrance gate.

The situation turned worse, especially over the weekend, as one of the three X-ray machines inside the security hold area (SHA) was out of order between Thursday and Sunday. This slowed down the process of screening passenger cabin baggage.

“It takes an average 30-40 seconds to screen a bag. With one X-ray machine becoming unfunctional, the entire load shifted on the remaining two scanners, leading to long queues outside the SHA,” said a security official requesting anonymity.

Not only passengers but the airlines officials also rued at the inept handling of the situation.

“We cannot leave our passengers behind, for no fault of theirs, especially after they have checked-in on time with their registered baggage,” said an airline official.

BJP leader Rajesh Kumar Singh, who travelled to New Delhi on Saturday evening, was critical at the handling of the situation.

“I had to stand in queue for 30 minutes because of the heavy rush of passengers outside SHA. I was told one X-ray machine was not working. When it became unbearable for me, I requested the CISF personnel, who were considerate enough to allow me to jump the queue,” said Singh.

“Such was the rush of passengers on Saturday that all COVID-19 advisories, including the one to avoid crowding, were thrown to the wind. It appeared as if the passengers would have even trampled one another to reach the security check point to board the flight. I am afraid some may have even missed their flights,” he said.

Another passenger, Shailendra Pratap, a JD(U) leader, who flew to Ranchi by IndiGo flight on Saturday, was considerate yet critical.

“The airport agencies struggled to maintain the one-metre separation between individuals, as advised by the health ministry. This, despite the fact that the rush of outbound passengers from Patna has reduced by 30% to 40%,” said Singh.

The passenger movement at Patna airport from April 2019 to January, this year, was 38,49,167, registering a passenger growth of 12.9% over the same period in 2018-19.

In January, the airport registered a passenger footfall of 3,36,107. It is also the 23rd busiest airport in India. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has initiated work to extend the terminal building over an area of 11.5 acres for sustaining air operations at least till 2035.

AAI DEFENDS ITS ACTION

“The unserviceable X-ray machine had nothing to do with the congestion of passengers at airport, as it was repaired on Sunday after it developed snag last Thursday. Against an annual passenger handling capacity of 5 lakh, the Patna airport is now catering to 50 lakh passengers every year, with the number of flights operating in a day having gone up from 38 to 54 over the last three months. More flights will be added later this month, taking the number of daily departures to 60,” said an AAI official requesting anonymity.

“Given the space constraint, we should have either not accepted so many flights or staggered their timing past midnight to avoid crowding of passengers inside the terminal building,” he said.

The officer evaded a question if the AAI was not violating the central government advisory on COVID-19 by allowing crowding of passengers at the Patna airport. “You should ask this to the airport director. I am not the competent authority to reply to this question,” he said.

Efforts to reach airport director BCH Negi proved futile as he did not respond to this reporter’s phone call or text message.