The Hindu : National : Kolkata: IAF called in to help

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 02, 2006

National

National

Kolkata: IAF called in to help

Marcus Dam

Air services remain largely unaffected; strike near total, say unions

— Photo: Paul Noronha

COLLISION ON GROUND: Police confronting striking employees of the Airports Authority of India in Mumbai on Wednesday. The staff are on an indefinite strike against privatisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports.

KOLKATA: The services of the Indian Air Force were requisitioned to restore normality in air services from and to the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose International Airport here on Wednesday after employees of the Airports Authority of India went on a strike.

Elsewhere in the country, thousands of AAI employees struck work in a nationwide agitation to protest against the Centre's move to privatise the Delhi and Mumbai airports.

In Kolkata, hundreds of passengers were stranded following a severe disruption in flights, lasting nearly five hours. Sources told The Hindu that the IAF personnel moved in to assist the authorities at around 6.30 p.m.

After a morning of demonstrations outside the airport terminals, Air Traffic Control (ATC) authorities were left with no option but issue notice to airmen saying that due to the prevailing circumstances no flight could either take off or land at the airport from 1.40 p.m.

Lathicharge in Mumbai

Mumbai Special Correspondent reports:

AAI employees and other airport workers, who were on a "pen down" strike, were lathicharged on Wednesday morning. While union employees claimed the attack was unprovoked, police said the workers were trying to break the cordon and cause inconvenience to the passengers.

However, flights operated as usual till evening.

Ten women and 15 men were injured in the lathicharge.

The unions claimed the strike was near total and even the officers associations were supporting them.

Air traffic normal

UNI reports:

Air traffic remained normal at various places as the ATCs did not join the strike; other services such as baggage handling, house keeping and maintenance activities were badly affected.

The strike call evoked no response from the staff working at the Chandigarh and Amritsar airports.

Cargo unaffected

Flight operations including cargo remained unaffected at the Srinagar Airport even as airport authorities said they had taken precautionary measures.

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