The nationwide strike called by the Airport Authority of India employees union on Friday entered the third day badly affecting the non-core operations of the domestic as well as international airport in Mumbai.
After yesterday's agitations were marred by freezing of activities at airport's cargo division and lathi-charge on the agitating mob by the police outside the airport, police today deployed two more companies of Riot Control unit.
In the morning, police force deployed at the entrance of the departure terminal did not allow the agitating employees to enter that area.
The area is protected using barricades, paving the way for smooth passenger movements. As a result of the strike and large number of employees joining the agitation, four flights were rescheduled for operational reasons.
Yesterday, the movement of cargo from the airport was hampered causing a loss of Rs 45 lakh, which is the amount of perishable goods transported via airport every day.
Airport director R J Treasurywala, admitted freezing of the cargo movement. However, he made clear that partial movement has started at the domestic airport.
About 30 per cent of cargo was awaiting clearance today, airport sources said.
CITU led by leader K L Bajaj staged demonstration outside airport in support of the agitation launched by airport employees against privatisation.
Meanwhile, the condition of employees admitted to Hinduja hospital with injuries suffered during agitation yesterday was stated by the hospital to be serious.
The Airport Privatisation Drama: Complete Coverage
Cargo services hit at Chennai airport
Cargo services at Chennai airport continued to remain affected, as also clearance of garbage, as the strike by all the 1,500 employees, protesting against privatisation of airports, entered the third day on Friday.
AAI sources said that cargo was piling up, since there were a number of procedures to be covered before clearance, which was taking time.
Officers who have been working overtime for the past three days, were now finding it difficult to cope up with all operations, they said.
Though the management has employed casual labour to clear garbage and clean toilets, garbage continued to pile up.
Many passengers said they had to wait for nearly two hours to get their luggage out of the airport, since there were no employees present.
AAI's National Airports Division regional director Dr Ramalingam told PTI that air services at all airports in South India remained unaffected. However, some passengers complained of delays.
The airport employees are staging demonstrations in front of the airport complex. Meanwhile, AAI Employees Union President P Mahendran said employees did not oppose modernisation per se.
"We have the expertise and experience. AAI has a reserve fund of more than
Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) and all 22,000 employees are willing to contribute between Rs 1 lakh and 2 lakh. Why should the government then go for FDI?," he asked.
Passenger amenities hit at Kolkata
Flight operations were normal but passenger amenities at the NSC Bose International Airport have been severely hit on Friday and the situation was 'worsening' as unrelenting AAI employees showed no sign of ending their stir against the privatisation of Mumbai and Delhi airports.
Sources in the Airports Authority of India said flights of different airlines took off from the airport for their destinations all over the country normally on the third day of the strike.
The first flight of Indian Airlines left for Port Blair at 5.30 am. In the international sector, a chartered Air India plane landed at the airport with Haj pilgrims from Jedda around 8 a.m.
However, severely hit passenger amenities, particularly power supply which automatically affects the air-conditioning, water supply and the toilets, were making conditions unbearable for those inside the airport.
An airlines official in the domestic lounge said, "We have to work for about 12 hours a day to keep the planes flying, but the situation is worsening. It is stinking everywhere because the AAI employees had stopped working for the past three days."
The conveyor belts were not working forcing the passengers to carry their own luggage, and the aero-bridge was also not in service. The situation was comparatively better in the international terminal, the sources said.