AAI blames State for 3-yr delay in opening of new international arrival terminal

Deepak Shastri, Airport Director has accused the State government for the delay in 

opening the terminal, alleging that the government had not provided immigration officials for the new block. “We have been requesting the State government to provide immigration officials but they are not providing us the manpower,” Deepak Shastri told DTNext . Though the Airport Authority of India is blaming the State government for the delay, the fact remains that the Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to approve the Airport Authority of India’s (AAI) request for security personnel from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Highly placed sources in the immigration department told DTNext that the new terminal, which has four exit gates, need a large number of CISF personnel to be on duty in three shifts. 

“The delay in opening of the arrival terminal has got nothing to do with immigration.  The delay is mainly due to the lack of response from the Ministry of Home Affairs,” a senior official in the Immigration Office said. The airport official said the AAI had sent several requests regarding the CISF requirement to the Ministry of Home Affairs but they are yet to get any response from them. Meanwhile immigration sources told DTNext that the Ministry of External Affairs is also reluctant to depute immigration officials to Chennai as Tamil Nadu fails to meet the deputation quota. 

The MHA reserves 50 per cent of the postings in immigration for state police cadre and paramilitary forces. Due to shortage of manpower, State government fails to meet the quota requirement, sources added. Earlier, the AAI had stated that the new international arrival terminal had not been opened as they were planning to integrate it with the new arrival terminals in the phase II expansion plan. Later, AAI maintained that the terminal has not been opened only because of the manpower issue. The Controller and Auditor General had noted that there was a loss of Rs 48 crore due to paying interest by delaying the opening of the new international arrival block.  At present, international passengers use the new domestic arrival block.