Since the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) launched the unique utility service of offering air travellers a chance to locate their lost belongings online earlier this month, the police department has already seen a 300 per cent jump in the number of hits. The move has also seen a 50 per cent improvement in the number of lost baggage claimed by travellers in the international sector at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Airport officials said the initiative has, however, not brought about any marked improvement in the retrieval of lost belongings in the domestic sector.

“The CISF website got close to 1.11 lakh hits in October after the launch of lost/found service. The figures stand in comparison to the monthly average of 35,000 hits. At least 20 per cent of the total hits are from international servers,” CISF spokesperson Rohit Katiyar said.

A daily list of items found from airports across the country is posted on the CISF website (www.cisf.gov.in). Once a passenger spots an item lost by him/her on this list, he needs to contact the airport manager (details of which are provided on the website) to claim it.

As per available data, total recoveries from the IGI Airport from January to August this year sum up to Rs 2.34 crore.

“The international terminal has seen a 50 per cent increase in the number of people coming back to claim their lost items. The domestic sector, on the other hand, hasn’t witnessed much improvement,” a senior CISF official at the airport said.

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