VIP cars in multiple lanes, buses in the middle of car bays and ceaseless honking by vehicles to move on.
The chaos in front of the airport terminal on the arrival level has worsened, especially during the evening rush hours.
A south Calcutta resident who went to receive his son on Monday evening saw the chaos first-hand.
The flight landed around 8.40pm. “My son only had hand luggage and he came out soon. Our car was in the parking lot and it took 40 minutes for the driver to bring it in front of gates 3A and 3B,” the man said.
“Earlier, beacon-fitted cars and those with stickers of various government departments used to remain parked at the kerbside in violation of rules. This time I saw such vehicles parked in two lanes. The violation has only increased,” he said.
“I even saw a bus entering the bay and stopping in front of gates 3A and 3B and the conductor urging passengers to get on it, as they do elsewhere in the city.”
Cars with commercial licence plates entered lanes meant for private vehicles and picked up passengers despite having bays earmarked for them.
“As the cars stood in the middle of the lanes and passengers were forced to board the vehicles there, the cars behind them were getting stranded. The drivers were honking impatiently,” said the south Calcutta resident.
“There were no police personnel or airport employees to manage the chaos.”
Another Calcuttan, an executive with a private healthcare chain, had arrived from Jaipur one evening last week.
“My flight landed at 8.30pm. Since I did not have checked-in luggage, it took me less than 15 minutes after getting off the aircraft to leave the terminal. Once outside, I was greeted with chaos as all the lanes were chocked. I called my driver and it took more than 30 minutes for the car to arrive in front of the terminal from the parking lot,” he said.
The healthcare executive, who frequently visits Bengaluru, said that earlier it took no more than 10 minutes for the car to arrive in the designated lane in front of the terminal from the parking lot.
Metro visited the airport on Wednesday evening and found the lanes congested. Beacon-fitted cars were parked for long while buses and commercial vehicles freely entered the lanes designated for private cars.
An airport official said they had raised the issue with the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate at a meeting a couple of days back.
“We have flagged the problem once again. We will again write to the police about the problem. It is the responsibility of the police to maintain traffic in front of the terminal building,” said the airport official.
Vehicles are allowed seven minutes of free parking in front of the terminal. An airport official said a vehicle can be fined ₹500 if it stays in front of the terminal for more than that.
However, VIP cars remain parked for much more than the stipulated time and no action is taken against them.
This newspaper has reported several times on the chaos in front of the terminal building and rampant violation of rules by VIP cars.
A few months back, the police had launched a drive making vehicle movement
at the airport smoother. The situation, however, has worsened, said passengers arriving in the city.
“We will look into the problem,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate.