Chaos at Delhi airport! Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia makes surprise visit to take stock

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia made a surprise visit to Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) amid multiple reports of chaos, delays, overcrowding and mismanagement. Scindia’s visit comes after netizens took to social media to share their ordeal from the international airport. 

The minister met with the airport officials and instructed them. Scindia had recently called a meeting with officials from the major airports in the country to discuss complaints of congestion, lack of staff and delays. 

Scindia, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Delhi International Airport Limited have come up with a four-point action plan that is to be implemented as remedial measures. The government is planning to reduce flight departures to 33 from the airport terminals during peak hours – 5-9 am and 4-8 pm – with 14 departures from T3, 11 from T2 and eight in T1.

The Centre is also planning to distribute landing cards on board and fill them up prior to arrival in order to reduce congestion at immigration counters, assess X-ray capacity for baggage, augment security manpower capacity, and undertake longer-term technology-related upgrades. 

Travellers took to social media to complain that there are serpentine queues at every level, and the staff is non-cooperative. Some said that despite waiting for 30 minutes, they barely made it halfway in the queue. While some likened the airport to a ‘fish market’, some called the experience a nightmare.

(With inputs from Poulomi Saha)

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