Parliamentary committee says airport developers squeezing public amenities and profiting
20 Aug 2008
New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has lashed out at private airport operators earning healthy profits even as they squeeze passenger amenities at airports. It said this scenario has come to pass primarily because of lack of coordination between government agencies responsible for monitoring them.
In its report to the Parliament, the standing committee on transport, tourism and culture is learnt to have recommended "strict regulations" to make the operators developing and modernising airports accountable for passenger amenities. Headed by CPI-M Rajya Sabha member, Sitaram Yechury, the committee, has blamed ''irreconcilable differences'' between the committee on infrastructure headed by the PM, and the inter-ministerial group headed by the civil aviation secretary, for the present mess.
In its assessment of the airport modernisation programme, the parliamentary panel has cited the examples of Delhi and Mumbai airports ''where the passenger space has shrunk considerably to make way for commercial activities of the private developers'', sources said.