Mangalore: Are you planning to drop a passenger to the Mangalore International Airport's departure terminal and exit within five minutes to save Rs 40 parking charges?
Probability is that you may not make it. Thanks to Airport Authority of India's decision to run parking operations with sparse staff in the absence of a regular contractor, its chaos at the airport - at both the departure and arrival terminal ends.
The major problem is due to airport terminal operations personnel blocking the through-way on the ramp to the exit - by placing a barricade near the departure side. The barricade is also on arrival side which is used by taxis. Of the available four lanes, two on either side is perennially occupied by parked vehicles; though parking is prohibited. In the absence of a traffic management staff - the middle two lanes is free for all which creates blocks and those want to exit within five minutes don't make it and cough up the Rs 40 parking charges. Uday khandeparkar, sponsor of real estate focused private equity fund, who experienced the problem on May 1 said: "I confronted the Terminal superintendent Hameed about this problem. He said things would be set right within a week."
16/05/13 Stanley Pinto/Times of India
