Taxi touts back at city airport roaming freely in front of terminal, so is illegal parking
Telegraph | 4 November 2024
Taxi touts are back at the city airport roaming freely in front of the terminal.
And in keeping with the return of the illegal operatives, the old menace of illegal parking of taxis in the lanes meant for the exit of app cabs has reared its head again.
The Telegraph visited the airport on Sunday afternoon and found taxi touts scouting for easy targets in front of gate numbers 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B — used by international passengers — at the arrival level.
Touts were also spotted outside the gates used by domestic passengers. The touts, cashing in on the surge in the number of fliers during the festive season, were offering passengers rides in “air-conditioned luxury vehicles” at exorbitant rates.
The men were operating freely despite frequent patrolling by police vehicles in front of the terminal.
The number of touts had gone down after the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate launched a drive against them. At least 50 touts were arrested earlier this year.
The cops had also fixed six CCTV cameras in the taxi bay and on the booking kiosk for prepaid taxis for increased surveillance.
However, this newspaper came across more than a dozen touts stalking and harassing passengers in front of the terminal building on Sunday.
At the arrival level, at least five touts approached a family of three as soon as they stepped out of the terminal through gates 3A and 3B.
Monica Ingudam, 36, who arrived from Imphal with her sister and friend, told this newspaper that the touts had asked them for Rs 1,300 for a ride to their hotel in New Town.
“We had already booked an app cab. The cab fare was around Rs 380. The men who approached us with the offer of an ‘AC ride’ demanded Rs 1,300 because they said we were carrying too much luggage and the driver had to pay an airport toll tax,” Ingudam said.
Many yellow taxis and other commercial vehicles were parked illegally in the lanes, opposite the entrance to the parking lot, which are meant for the exit of app cabs and taxis.
The stretch has only six designated pick-up points for yellow taxis registered with Yatri Sathi, an app run by the state government. Besides, app cab aggregators Ola and Uber have 14 pick-up points on the same kerbside.
But in violation of rules, many yellow taxis and vehicles with commercial number plates were parked parallel to each other in front of the entrance to the parking lot, eating up most of the three lanes and creating bottlenecks.
The police had succeeded in preventing illegal parking in the exit lanes for several months but the violation has resumed.
Yellow taxis are supposed to be parked in the parking lot and drive to the pick-up points only to pick up passengers.
There were a couple of civic police volunteers but they did little to help keep the lanes free.
Officers in the police patrol vehicles, too, looked the other way.
Vehicles, many of which were fitted with beacons or boards announcing they were used by government officials, were parked in the lane adjoining the terminal, despite “No Parking” signboards installed at regular intervals.
Many of the vehicles were parked for more than an hour.
A senior officer in the Bidhannagar commissionerate’s airport division said they conduct regular drives against touts.
“Their number could have gone up as this is the festive season. A renewed drive is on the cards. We will also request airport officials to ensure the exit lanes remain free of illegal parking,” said the officer.
The officer said patrol vehicles have been deployed in front of the terminal and on the approach roads on both levels.
“We try to avoid traffic snarls in front of the terminal, especially during rush hours.”