Actress Mahima Chaudhury and child struggle to find trolleys on arrival at Calcutta airport on Wednesday. (Above) An elderly passenger waits in a wheelchair to check in and take a flight out. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Flight operations were normal but passenger amenities took a hit in Calcutta on the first day of the “indefinite strike” by airport employees.

The toilets were not cleaned, trolleys were scarce, drinking water was not available, aerobridges and a conveyor belt ceased to function and waste spilled out of the bins in the lounges — Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport was not the place to be in on Wednesday.

Passengers had no clue about any change in the flight schedule, as information display boards and the public address system were not working.

Things worsened in the evening, when more than half the lights in the airport went out. With maintenance staff joining the strike called by the Airports Authority Employees Union (AAEU), darkness prevailed in large sections of the airport throughout the night.

“We cannot help it. When 100-odd officials are forced to do what a 2,000-strong workforce does, the service cannot be any better,” said a senior airport official.

Citu state president Shyamal Chakraborty blamed the inconvenience on the Centre’s “refusal to meet the demands of the workers”.

While employees were busy holding rallies and shouting slogans, the family of a youth who had died in Dubai had to wait for nine hours to collect the body from the cargo division.

The body of Sheikh Moinuddin of Ranichak, East Midnapore, arrived on an Emirates flight at 7.30am. “There was no one to start the procedure for releasing the body. We spotted an employee after a long wait, but he refused to help us. The body was finally handed over to us around 4.30pm, on the intervention of senior officials,” said a family member.

It was also a harrowing experience for 80-year-old Nirmala Desaraja, who arrived from Vizag on a Deccan flight around 1pm with three bags. “The luggage was too heavy for her to carry around but there were no airport or airline employees to help her out. After searching for half an hour, a co-passenger located a trolley for her,” said Desaraja’s daughter-in-law Laxmi Moorthy, who came to receive her.

Moorthy alleged that she was in the domestic airport manager’s office for an hour seeking help, but there was no one to listen to her pleas.

K.N. Verma, a Delhi-based businessman, and wife Shashi were leaving on a Deccan flight on Wednesday afternoon. “The toilet was so dirty that I stepped back immediately after entering it,” said Shashi. “Tissue papers were strewn all around and taps and flushes were not working.”

Water supply in the terminal buildings stopped around 11am, as there were no employees to operate the pumps.

One of the conveyor belts in the domestic terminal developed a snag and could not be repaired. Passengers to and from aircraft could not avail of the aerobridges as they stopped functioning.

In the evening, the lights in the canopy in front of the domestic terminal could not be switched on. Lights also went out in Clipper’s Lounge following a snag that could not be repaired. Inside the lounges, half the lights were off.

Key gadgets like the radar and the Instrumental Landing System could not be surveyed properly. “Usually by noon, our men visit the equipment stations at least thrice. Today, there was not a single visit,” said an official.

Visitors could not enter the airport as the ticket counters were closed.

“We are making all efforts to maintain normal flight operations tomorrow,” said an official.

But still, there have been a few cancellations.