- Trolleys in lanes blocking vehicles in front of the airport terminal on the arrival level
- Trolleys in the parking area, blocking parking slots
Faulty trolley retrieval is a problem at the Kolkata airport.
The agency that manages the trolleys blames the problem on the airport authorities’ unwillingness to spend money to improve the retrieval system and the unionised workers.
This week, The Telegraph found trolleys scattered in the lanes in front of the terminal building on the arrival level. Vehicles had to slow down or stop to get past them.
Trolleys also remain here and there in the taxi bay.
The abandoned trolleys add to the chaos that exists in the lanes because of VIP cars, which remain parked for long durations, in violation of rules, on the kerbside, and poor vehicle management by the police.
“We often find trolleys scattered outside the terminal building. I had to move trolleys several times because they were blocking my car,” said a south Kolkata resident who flies frequently for work.
“Passengers, too, are to blame for the mess. They should not keep the trolleys where they board their cars or taxis.”
An official at Omega Enterprises, the agency that manages the airport’s parking and lanes, said they have to call the airport manager’s office several times during the day to get the trolleys removed from the lanes as well as the parking lot.
“Usually, the trolley retrievers come twice a day. But so many passengers abandon trolleys wherever they want that it often becomes difficult to access parking slots,” he said.
NIS Management, the agency that has been hired by the airport to retrieve trolleys, blamed the authorities and the work culture.
There are around 600 trolleys at the airport and 63 retrievers, said an official at NIS.
“Now that the pandemic is over, the passenger footfall has increased. We had requested the airport authorities for a 10 per cent increase in the number of retrievers,” the official said.
“But the authorities did not agree. There is a delay in retrieval because the new trolleys have brakes and are wider. So, it takes double the time to retrieve the trolleys,” he said.
“Also, among the retrievers there are many who do not work because of age. But the unions do not allow us to replace them,” he said.
The agency had in September last year proposed introduction of an electronic trolley tracking system.
“When the trolleys are taken to the basement parking area or away from the terminal building, we have no control. If a person is sent to retrieve them, it is up to him to decide how much time he would spend there,” the NIS official said.
“So, we had proposed that the trolleys be fitted with electronic sensors which would provide us information about each trolley within 30m of the terminal. That would have helped us streamline the retrieval system,” he said.
Airport sources said the Hyderabad airport has a similar system.
In Kolkata, when a tender for handling trolleys was floated in October, the provision was not included, said airport sources.
Also, the airport has changed the payment structure. NIS is paid around Rs 18 lakh a month. In the new contract, the agency to be hired has to earn revenue from advertisements and pay the airport a fee.
“We have not taken part in the bidding because it will not be viable,” said the NIS official.
NIS, which was hired in May 2021, has been given a three-month extension thrice because there were no takers for the new contract.
“We have awarded a fresh contract to another agency. We are waiting for their confirmation,” an airport official said.
