Bhubaneswar, Oct. 13: Parking problems have come back to haunt the city airport. This time, it's irregular parking that is the grouse of visitors.
The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) often makes headlines because of parking problems such as bad management of its parking lots and continuous complaints from visitors about misbehaviour by the parking staff and forceful collection of parking fees.
The airport authorities are at present managing the parking lots by awarding the contract for fee collection to a private partner on its behalf. Signage reading "No Parking" can be found at various places in the airport area, but vehicles are seen openly violating the rule.
Visitors often face trouble because of undesignated parking in different parts of the airport area. "Such haphazard parking by drivers is highly objectionable. They can obviously see the 'No Parking' signage but continue to park their vehicles right under these boards anyway," said Sitakanata Mahapatra, an air traveller.
Tanmay Jena, a resident of Jharpada, said: "I came to drop my sister here and parked my car paying Rs 40 at the designated parking lot. However, I was amazed and angry when I saw people parking their vehicles right in front of the domestic terminal for free and that, too, in an area where a 'No Parking' signage has been installed. This is unacceptable. The authorities should do something about it," said Jena.
The parking staff are supposed to hand over a slip to every vehicle coming into the airport at a check gate that is 200 metres away from the domestic terminal. The slip indicates a designated wait time inside the airport area to pick up or drop a passenger. In case the vehicles overshoot the time limit, they are supposed to pay a fine.
"It is strange that such vehicles pass the parking staff and park their vehicles at undesignated places for along time without attracting any fines," said Fahad Seikh, a frequent flyer to New Delhi.
Asked how such vehicles could pass the check gate, a parking staff member said: "Earlier, we used to stop all the vehicles. But many cab drivers bypass us by saying that they would stay for less than the designated time that qualifies for payment. But, of course, they don't keep their promise."
"As we don't issue tickets to them, it is difficult to understand how long the have been at the airport. If we ask them to remove their vehicles from the undesignated places, they argue and threaten to lodge complaints with the authorities accusing us of misbehaviour. We have been asked by our contractor not to misbehave with anyone, so we avoid any trouble," said the parking staff member.
Asked about this problem, airport director R. Mahalingham said that they had a grievance cell to look after such issues. "We take immediate action against such violators after receiving a complaint. We will look into the matter once again and ensure that no one is involved in such violation," said Mahalingham.
Airport public grievance officer Manjeet Sehgal said they had requested the traffic police to check irregular parking. "Such unauthorised parking has been largely brought under control. However, we will look into the matter and ask the airport manager to levy fines on violators. Traffic personnel will also be deputed to check such violations," said Sehgal.
In August, an online campaign was launched against parking problems at the city airport. "Nearly 1,800 persons had supported the campaign. But, the petition could not be forwarded to the Airports Authority of India as it failed to reach the 2,000 mark. However, the airport authority had warned the parking contractor about the irregularities following which such incidents have been checked," said an airport source.
