KOLKATA: A month on, there is least regard for the DGCA-enforced mask mandate at Kolkata airport — be it on part of passengers or airport and airline employees — although Bengal witnessed close to 3,000-odd cases in a day and three deaths on Friday. Kolkata airport rolled out a fine of Rs 100 for errant passengers. But the state of implementation is evident in the fact that only 155 have been fined so far in a month. The airport has an average daily footfall of 45,000-plus.
TOI was at the airport for more than an hour on Thursday and found CISF officials — some with masks below their noses — standing beside “No Mask No Entry” posters and allowing passengers without masks to enter. Inside, flyers, airport staff, airline employees, CISF and Bidhannagar Police personnel were found without masks or with masks hanging below the chin, and no official bothering to book or ask them to get it right.
“The airport is full of mask-less people. Last week, when I was travelling with my wife and child to Bengaluru, a group of men at the security hold area were chewing betel leaves, none wearing a mask. When I asked them to mask up, they picked a fight. When I went to complain to authorities and airline staff, I saw many of them without masks, too,” said Mrinmoy Banerjee, a techie.
An elderly passenger said an audio announcement on wearing a mask or paying a penalty is being played on loop on the airport premises but none is there to check and implement it. “I see rules are being flouted with ease at the airport. The passengers are largely to blame, but many in uniform are themselves not wearing masks,” said septuagenarian Subhas Biswas.
The DGCA had issued a directive for strict compliance of the Covid protocol at airports and on aircraft on June 8, following a Delhi High Court order stating passengers can be treated as “unruly” and can be put on the no-fly list if they refuse to follow the mandate aboard aircraft. “Slapping fines was never our motive, and we stressed on creating awareness. However, we seem to have failed. But it is not just Kolkata, airports around the country are failing to implement the mandate as a majority of people are refusing to wear masks. We have limited manpower to conduct thorough checks, but we will step it up further,” said a senior airport official.
