Road-grabbing hawkers of Kolkata have not spared its airport.
Stalls mostly made of bamboo poles and plastic sheets and selling snacks and other sundry items have mushroomed on the airport premises.
The unauthorised stalls have encroached on the airport’s land stretching from the old domestic terminal building to the cargo terminal.
Although most of these stalls have come up in areas where passengers usually do not go, some of the hawkers are seen in front of the arrival area of the integrated terminal building, selling tea or jhaalmuri.
On Friday, The Telegraph counted at least a dozen stalls opposite the old terminal building.
The situation was similar in the cargo handling compound. The stalls are not only an eyesore but also pose a fire-safety hazard.
Not only are these stalls made of flammable materials, many of them use LPG cylinders and kerosene stoves to cook in the open.
There have been reports from across the city of fires starting from such stalls. Last month, a domestic LPG cylinder exploded inside a fast food stall in Kestopur, killing one person and injuring at least 15 people.
The stalls at the airport sell dosa, idly, paratha and other items. Most of the customers are those who work at the airport.
Airport sources said a number of employees of the Airports Authority of India, airlines and private agencies as well as cops eat at these stalls. Some of the fliers who take buses from the airport also queue up in front of these stalls, they said.
“We come here to eat lunch and snacks as these stalls offer good food at a reasonable price. The stalls also sell cigarettes. Had it not been for these shops, we would have had to walk till VIP Road to buy cigarettes,” said a man in his late 20s who works for an airline.
A senior officer at the Bidhannagar commissionerate said these stalls had been operating for the past few years.
“Earlier, they were near the restaurant opposite the old terminal building. Many have now shifted inside the parking lot opposite the old terminal and the cargo handling area. We haven’t received any complaint from the authorities regarding this and any eviction or rehabilitation has to be carried out by the civic authorities. We can provide assistance, if required,” said the officer.
The hawker issue has been discussed at several meetings of the airport’s advisory committee but the stalls continue to be there, said an official.
“We have raised the issue with the local MP and the municipal authorities in several meetings. But the number of stalls continues to grow,” said an official at the airport.
He said that along with the markets adjacent to the airport boundary, these unauthorised food stalls pose a safety risk to flights.
“These stalls attract birds that pose a serious threat to flight operations,” said the official.
Like the contractual workers at the airport, these hawkers are backed by trade unions controlled by local leaders of the ruling party, said airport sources.
This newspaper reported on Sunday how the Kolkata airport is at the mercy of unions. Contractual workers of private agencies responsible for cleaning washrooms and other facilities shirk work and stage agitations whenever any action is taken against them.
“The space could be used to create an additional parking facility. But it cannot be done now,” said the airport official.
“The unauthorised stalls are a problem. We conduct eviction drives from time to time but they (the hawkers) return,” said Saugata Ray, Trinamul Congress MP and the chairman of the airport’s advisory committee.