Actual aviation security at TIA

The print media has been recently abuzz with the news of heightened security at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) citing security threats to Indian air-carriers. The officials from both the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the custodian of physical infrastructure of the TIA, and the police department are amusingly going overboard in trying to project a safe image of TIA. However, keen observers of the state-of-affairs at TIA are reluctant to accept the claims of a safe TIA citing fundamental problems within the elements involved in the operations of TIA.
First, despite being a commercial entity and involving a certain degree of hospitality or facilitation, TIA is being run by people bereft of any decent formal qualification in business management or branch thereof. The only necessary qualification required to run the show is some seniority within CAAN and the rest is clear proximity to the party in power. And the results are there for all to savor, stretching all the way from passenger queues to mess at taxi rentals. The million-dollar question is: Why is this farce going on for so long? Well, the primary cause for this continued deterioration has a historic precedence in that the airport managers have been posted for their capabilities to “contribute” to the political party and godfathers rather than for their capabilities to contribute to the airport and civil aviation. The reason is not difficult to fathom as two-thirds of the annual budget of TIA (to the tune of about 400 million rupees) fetches an attractive commission of up to 40 percent on the purchase of goods and services. When such an amount is involved, it is certain that an elite clique with direct political patronage will control the key functioning of the relevant matters and other voices of reason are summarily dismissed as dissent and the individuals suitably punished. The second cause of the mess is the lack of an alternative airport and this lack of competition makes the sole player complacent or, worse still, irresponsible.
31/01/10 Mukund Mishra/My Republica.com

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Categories: Airports Jan 2010, Foreign Jan 2010