Bhubaneswar, Jan. 17: Parking at the Biju Patnaik airport continues to generate controversies.

The latest being the case of an engineering student who was roughed up by CISF jawans on security duty. Such incidents have also taken place in the past with people’s allegations of harassment flying thick and fast.

The parking area at the airport can hold around 250 four wheelers and 100 two-wheelers. But vehicles coming to the airport have to generally pass through parking area temporarily where they stop for a few minutes to drop passengers.

If the driver is not supposed to wait he drives out of the airport immediately but the ones who are bound to wait, park their vehicles in the parking lot.

However, people are generally taken aback when even those who do not park their vehicles in the parking lot are stopped at the exit and asked for tickets. Many people have complained of harassment at the hands of guards in the parking lot.

“I had come to drop my friend who was going to Delhi. When I crossed the parking area, the staff here stopped me. I was completely taken aback.

The authorities should take steps to ensure that those who do not park their vehicles go out of the airport without being stopped,” said Deepak Behera, an MBA student.

But the guards at the parking lot have a different take on the issue. They say that they are only trying to carry out their duty.

“We let those who come just to drop passengers go. But sometimes passengers claiming to be VIPs create problems. We have even been assaulted at times,” said one of the guards.

Even the CISF jawans deployed at the airport sometimes allegedly misbehave with the passengers over parking.

In fact, two of them were suspended yesterday in connection with the case of assault on an engineering student who had gone to the airport to drop his parents.

The director of the airport V.N. Chandran, who took charge, recently admitted that parking was a matter of concern.

He said plans were afoot to provide a separate exit route for those coming to the temporary parking area. Steps would also be taken to ensure that people don’t park their vehicles in front of the airport’s entrance.

He also indicated that the heads of the different sections at the airport would be called for special meetings every week to assess their work and to find out problems if any in the airport area.

Airport employees would be specifically instructed to behave properly with the passengers.

Everyday 14 to 16 flights land and take off from the Biju Patnaik airport, which is visited by around 4,000 people. About 250 four-wheelers and nearly 100 two-wheelers are parked in the airport parking lot.