Kolkata airport’s new terminal,pretty but problematic

The new terminal at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport,inaugurated on January 20 by the President,has been built at Rs 2,325 crore. The bulk of operations has since been shifted out of the original terminal,which had both domestic and international wings.

“There are some issues and in about two months,I think,those will be resolved,” says airport director B P Sharma. He admits lack of facilities and cleanliness has been criticised.

Among the critics is Derek O’Brien who,after a recent visit,wrote to the civil aviation ministry: “The airport terminal that is now functional is a stigma on the fair name of Kolkata. It is an insult to the city,its people and frequent users of airlines,and to the memory of Netaji,for whom the airport is named.” The Trinamool Congress MP described the terminal as half-ready.

“It is certainly not half-ready. We would not have agreed to shift operations if it was,” says Captain Sarvesh Gupta,chairman of the airport operators committee that represents private airlines. “Of course,there are some issues on which we have asked for clarifications,” he adds. “It is just that certain managerial processes within the airport have made the problems look a lot worse.”

Director Sharma explains how passengers had got stuck on the aerobridge: “It was during the transition phase (March 10 to 16),when flights were operating from all three terminals: the existing domestic and international ones,and the new terminal. The airport was short of the staff required for opening and closing the gates.”

CISF personnel have been handed the keys to all entrances and exits. On March 13,they struggled to match the keys with the locks,holding up 135 passengers from Delhi for 20 minutes on the aerobridge. On March 14,the same thing held up 120 fliers from Mumbai for 35 minutes.

About the crumbling glass panels,Sharma says it is a technical issue that he cannot comment on until he receives a report. Gupta,on the other hand,guesses that the cause could have been either the temperature difference between the panels and the surroundings,or that the panels had been poorly fitted.

The glass panels cover 5 lakh sq ft across the terminal. Over 100 of these panels have disintegrated,according to an estimate until April 8.

“It has been designed by an international consultant,one of the best,and quality control has been done by the reputable Parsons Brinckeroff,” Sharma says. “We too are very surprised and are looking into it very seriously. We have called experts from across the country and are waiting for their reports. As soon as they give their opinion,the Airports Authority of India will take action.”

An AAI team that visited the airport listed out facilities that need improvement,Gupta says. Operators have,in fact,linked the current problems to the AAI’s involvement in the project. “Since government agencies are known to go with the lowest bidder,the quality may not be the best,” says Gupta.

Sharma does not agree. “The AAI maintains 120 airports,” he points out. “In this case,we hired RMJM,a consultant of international repute,so I don’t think that there would have been much difference if it had been executed under a public-private partnership. I say with pride that we maintained 96.3 per cent operational efficiency during the transition period,which in international civil aviation is termed excellent and very rare.”

There has been talk about management being handed over to a private agency — pilots say they are looking forward to that — but Sharma says it is out of the question.

The project’s initial deadline had been 2011. “Since it was a highly technical project that included a lot of imported material and good engineering,the deadline was revised by a committee,” Sharma says. “It was completed within the revised deadline. This led to an escalation from the original cost estimate of Rs 1,942 crore to Rs 2,325 crore.”