A new cleaning agency will be given the contract for maintaining washrooms in the departure area of the Calcutta airport, officials said. But there is a but.
Little is likely to change because the employees are likely to be the same ones responsible for the dirty washrooms now.
The tender process for a new housekeeping agency was finalised a few days ago, said an airport official.
“The tender for a new housekeeping contract has been approved and has been sent to the Airports Authority of India headquarters in Delhi for the final procedures. It will take some time before the new agency takes over,” a senior official at the Calcutta airport said on Wednesday. The contract will be for three years initially, he said.
According to sources, the company that will replace NIS Management Ltd, which now runs the housekeeping service in the departure area of the integrated terminal building, is a Delhi-based agency.
“However, the biggest challenge will be to handle the cleaners. The management has to act tough to ensure the cleaners work properly. Otherwise, the issue of lack of cleanliness will continue,” said the airport official.
Metro recently published a series of reports, over a fortnight, highlighting the problems faced by passengers at the Calcutta airport. One of the issues the passengers had highlighted during conversations with this newspaper was the problem caused by contractual workers backed by unions.
Many passengers have complained about the dirty and stinking washrooms at the Calcutta airport.
A passenger who recently travelled to Bangalore complained about the stinking washroom near the airline check-in counters.
Another frequent flier said he had never seen any cleaner near a washroom at night.
Airport sources said the unions had demanded that the cleaning staff hired by NIS Management Ltd be retained by the new agency.
NIS Management Ltd has around 500 housekeeping personnel, including supervisors, for cleaning washrooms, glass facades and floors.
An airport official said NIS has often complained of the difficulties in handling the workers.
A dirty washroom at the airport in January
Now, there are three shifts for workers — 7am to 2pm, 2pm to 9pm and 9pm to 7am.
“The problem is almost every day the relievers report late for duty while those on the earlier shift leave early. This leaves washrooms unattended for some time,” said the official.
“The night shift ends at 7am, by which time the morning rush hours start. As the relievers often turn up half an hour after the end of the night Another official in the airport management said all 80 washrooms will be overhauled soon, at a cost of
Rs 11 crore,” he said.
“There are some designissues, too, which will be rectified,” the official of the airport said.
The airport faces a similar problem with trolley retrieval. Many trolleys lay scattered in front of the terminal building on the arrival area, inthe parking lot and on theexit road.
An official of NIS Management Ltd, whose contractfor trolley retrieval hasbeen extended till March 31, said they had proposedinstalling software to monitor the timing of retrieval oftrolleys, but there was noresponse from the airportauthorities.
The new cleaning agency that will be hired will not be responsible for trolley retrieval, officials said.
“We have given the contract for trolley retrievalto a new agency, which is waiting for security clearances to start work,” said an airport official.