The Hindu : New Delhi News : Fog leaves passengers in the lurch

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Sunday, Jan 04, 2009
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New Delhi

Fog leaves passengers in the lurch

Parul Sharma

PHOTO: V. V. KRISHNAN

STRANDED: With heavy fog engulfing the Capital, passengers were left stranded at the IGI domestic terminal due to disruption of flight schedules on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: With dense fog making a comeback at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Saturday after a day’s break, the departure terminals, especially terminal 1B, was chocking with passengers waiting for their flights to take off.

The fog that enveloped Delhi delayed about 150 flights throughout Saturday. A number of passengers got to know about the delay in scheduled departure of their aircraft only after they reached the airport.

Several flights were delayed for over three hours.

However, even as a number of passengers were inconvenienced owing to the fog-related delays, several complained of the absence of washrooms in the extension area of terminal 1B.

The temporary extension of terminal 1B was replaced with a permanent structure last year to provide additional seating for passengers waiting to board their flights. However, while the baggage X-ray machines of low cost carriers such as Air Deccan and Indigo have been relocated from inside the terminal building to the extension area, passengers of full cost airlines can only wait for their flights in the extended space.

Several passengers waiting for their flights on Saturday were hassled as there were no toilets inside the extension area for full cost carriers.

The only facility available for them was some makeshift toilets outside the terminal, which some complained were “stinking and dirty”.

“Earlier, there were toilets outside the building that were managed by Sulabh Shauchalaya, but they seem to have gone now. There are some makeshift toilets outside but they are extremely filthy. Men can still use them, but women certainly can’t. One has to wait for a long time during departure delays. Undoubtedly it causes inconvenience to travellers,” said Anurag Mitra, a passenger waiting to board his flight.

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