New Delhi: Even as the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the modernisation projects of Delhi and Mumbai airports, protests by Airport Authority workers crippled functioning in at least two airports while emergency services were badly disrupted in many others across the country.
Flights going to Kolkata have been cancelled.
Jet Airways, Air Deccan and Indian Airlines flights originating from Chennai and going to Kolkata have been indefinitely postponed.
The flights to Delhi and Mumbai are taking off with slight delays.
The Kolkata airport is slowly limping back to normalcy.
A few international flights have landed at the International airport.
The government of West Bengal and the Indian Air Force are lending their services on emergency services inside the airport.
Earlier in the day, no take-off or landing was possible at Kolkata airport as emergency services were completely stalled.
In Kolkata, the air traffic control issued a notice that no flights will take off or land in the absence of emergency services.
Emergency lights have been switched on at the Mumbai airport. Earlier, electricity supply at Mumbai airport was cut off including the power to the conveyor belts.
The baggage department at the Mumbai airport has joined the strike.
In Lucknow, airport employees and ground staff blocked the departure terminal.
Emergency services, especially the fire brigade, have been adversely affected in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai airports.
In Mumbai, police had to resort to lathicharge on agitating workers in order to restore order while in Lucknow and Chennai, the employees blocked the entrance to the airport.
But there have been minimal flight disruptions so far.
The employees staged sit-in protests and shouted slogans in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bhopal, and Lucknow airports.
Except for Kolkata and Lucknow, there has been no major change in the flight schedules elsewhere in the country.
Smooth flow of passenger traffic is being maintained with the help of CISF.
At Kolkata airport alone, over 2,000 AAI employees are striking work.
In Delhi, 5,000 workers are sitting on an indefinite hunger strike.
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Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has called a meeting of all airline operators at 1600 hrs, IST on Wednesday.
Earlier in the morning, the Cabinet approved the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports.
Over 22,000 Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees began their indefinite strike on Wednesday morning to protest the privatisation move by the Government.
The striking workers, shouting anti-Government slogans, held protest rallies at the airport. They said they would continue their protest till the Government rolled back its decision.
"It is our right to go on strike. It's our choice to protest and we may even not join work," M K Ghoshal, leader, AAI Union said.
The Left parties are backing these employees and want the Government to look at other modernisation routes.
They claim privatisation does not necessarily mean better service.
Reacting to the Government's decision CPI-M leader Brinda Karat says Government will lose people's support with its decision to privatise Delhi and Mumbai airports.
"We are demanding reversal of their decision because its not in the national interest of the country and the employees are not fighting for themselves but for the larger interest of the county," said Karat.
"I know so far as disembarkment is concerned, these people charge Rs 500 per passenger whereas AAI charges just Rs 300," Dipankar Mukherjee, Left leader, said.
But Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who announced the Empowered Group of Ministers' (EGoM) decision of clearing the bids, said that modernisation will not mean cutting jobs.
"Sixty per cent of the employees will be absorbed, another 10-15 per cent will be required by Airports Authority for various other operations and nearly seven to eight per cent are retiring this year," Patel said.
The bids to modernise Mumbai and Delhi were opened on Tuesday amid protest threats from the AAI Union.
GMR-Fraport consortium won the bid for the Delhi airport while the GVK-South Africa group bagged the Mumbai airport.
If things go as planned by the Civil Aviation Ministry, in three years, Delhi and Mumbai will get world-class.
On Tuesday, the AAI Union was joined by Left parties threatened to withdraw support from the UPA Government if it went ahead with the bid process.
The Government, in response, invoked the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act (ESMA) to prevent the protesting unions form going on strike.
The only airport that did not go on strike is the Kochi International Airport in Kerala where it was business as ususal on Wednesday.
Run by the Cochin International Airport Limited, the airport is an example of partnership between the state and private sector.
The major stakeholders in the company are the Kerala government, a large number of non-resident Indians and financial institutions.
In a state known for trade unionism, surprisingly there were no political flags or slogan shouting.
(With inputs from PTI)
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