The airport agitation was withdrawn on Thursday evening, but
there is no end in sight for strike victim Amarjeet Singh Gill’s
ordeal.
The 55-year-old non-resident Indian from Canada, who slipped
and fell on the slushy floor of an unclean toilet in the domestic
lounge of Calcutta airport on Wednesday, continued to be in “a
critical state” in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit of Apollo
Gleneagles Hospitals.
Gill had suffered brain haemorrhage and a skull fracture. “The
cerebrospinal fluid, a clear bodily fluid which protects the brain,
is leaking. We are administering drugs to stop the leak. He is
complaining of giddiness and headache,” said Binod Kumar
Singhania, the neuro-surgeon supervising his treatment.
The blood clot in the brain would take “at least three
weeks to dissolve”, observed Singhania.
Gill, who reached Calcutta from Amritsar on Day I of the “non-cooperation
movement” by the Airports Authority Employees’ Union
(AAEU), has not been given a helping hand by the airport authorities.
“In some cases, where the patient who has suffered an accident
at the airport does not get insurance coverage, a note is sent
to the hospital concerned to clear the bills. But in this case,
no such letter was issued,” said an airport official.
“We provided all help to him at the airport but there is
no question of paying the hospital bills, as he has insurance,”
said another official.
Hospital sources, however said that till late on Thursday, Gill
had not submitted any insurance papers.
According to legal experts, Gill can seek compensation from the
airport authorities, as the accident occurred “primarily
due to their negligence”. Prabir Basu, an advocate and a
member of the state consumer protection council, said: “It
is the duty of the airport authorities to ensure toilets are properly
maintained.... In this case, they are guilty of deficiency in
service.” (See box)
Harassment was the order of the day at Calcutta airport as the
workers’ agitation raised a stink at both the domestic and
international terminals. Vital services, from cleanliness to trolleys,
were hit as passengers braved the filth and struggled with their
baggage.
Dhruv Kumar, a businessman from Mumbai, who arrived at Calcutta
airport around noon, barged into the office of the domestic airport
manager to protest the mess.
“This is ridiculous! Why can’t cleaners be hired
to do the job? I was told the agitating union would not allow
that but I wasn’t convinced that the officials were doing
enough to tackle the problem,” he said.
The fact that Citu was enforcing the workers’ strike —
demanding that the Centre keep open the existing airports in Hyderabad
and Bangalore even after alternative facilities get off the ground
— Calcutta airport was the worst affected.
Sundeep Agarwal, a techie who went to Bangalore on Wednesday
morning and returned to Calcutta via Delhi late on Thursday, said:
“Of all the three airports, Calcutta was by far the worst.
The Citu members and the passengers were both to blame. At the
other airports, people were making a conscious effort to keep
at least the waiting lounge clean. But Calcutta airport resembled
one big garbage dump. Sadly, civic sense is the least in this
city.”
That is what prompted S.K. Mitra, retired deputy inspector-general
of the BSF, to start picking up the litter strewn at the entrance
of the domestic terminal and dumping it into the dustbins. He
got no other volunteers.
But the airport should clean up its act by the time the first
flight takes off on Friday. Airport officials said the agitating
employees would join work in the night shift. “We are expecting
everything to be in order soon after midnight. It will take a
few hours to clean the premises,” they said.
