Around 400 air force personnel have been positioned at 21 key airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore.
NEW DELHI: Airport operations across the country were likely to be crippled from Tuesday midnight with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees union deciding to launch an indefinite strike after the government rejected its demand to continue operations at the existing airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The government has taken a series of steps to tackle any contingency in the event of the strike. Around 400 air force personnel have been positioned at 21 key airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore.
Aviation minister Praful Patel reiterated that the government would not be able to keep the existing airports open because of contractual obligations with private airport developers in Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The AAI manages 127 airports across the country and it is feared that passengers could face a harrowing time due to flight delays from midnight.
Officials of Delhi International Airport Limited (Dial) claimed to have made all arrangements to ensure passengers do not face problems. “The striking employees are not part of airport operations or the air traffic wing, so there won’t be any problems,” said a senior executive of Dial. He said only lower-level AAI employees of the airports administrative wing were participating in the strike.
But Dial and CISF are leaving no stone unturned to tackle the strike. “There will enough CISF personnel at airports, specifically at international terminals, from tonight itself,” said a CISF official on Tuesday.
Airport employees are in no mood to relent. “The decision of strike is irreversible and nothing can change it now because the government has clarified its stand,” said MK Ghoshal, spokesman for the AAI employees joint forum.
“We hope a solution will be found and all differences will be resolved amicably at a meeting scheduled around 11 pm,” said a senior aviation ministry official.
k_yogesh@dnaindia.net
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