Aviation crisis? Delhi, Mumbai airports busiest - for thieves

It may sound strange that the busiest airports of Delhi and Mumbai despite being the largest in the country, also carry a dubious distinction of being on the top for witnessing the most thefts among the country's 13 major airports. These two airports together accounted for a massive 80 per cent of these cases reported in the past three-and-a-half years, said a DNA report, adding that Delhi puts Mumbai far behind with more than double the incidence of pilfering.   
 
Citing the data released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the report said that a total of 252 cases of thefts were reported at the 13 airports between 2015 and June 2018, and of these, 204 were from Delhi and Mumbai terminals — Delhi alone reported 144 cases.
 
Each of the two airports handle more than 900 flights every day, said the DNA report, adding that over last seven years, Delhi’s air traffic has almost doubled, catering to more than 60 million passengers in 2017-18. However, Mumbai flew 48.5 million people in the last fiscal. The ministry reportedly released the figures in the ongoing Parliament session. 
 
In the same period, Hyderabad, which takes the third spot on the list of unsafe airports for your baggage, reported 34 theft cases, followed by Bengaluru airport reporting three cases. Airports at Kolkata, Lucknow, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram reported two cases each since 2015, the report said, adding that Amritsar, Jaipur and Jammu airports witnessed merely one each. The airports at Imphal and Calicut are the safest recording not theft cases.
 
The ministry is reportedly taking a host of measures to minimise stealings at airports, and the steps reportedly include frisking ground handling staff before they exit airports, banning use of the staff’s cellphones on the air-side, and surprise checks.
 
Further, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) reportedly stated that no security personnel were found to have been involved in such cases. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and private airport operators have also stated that their staff are blameless.
 
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Notably, the Delhi International Airport Limited, a GMR-led consortium, operates and maintains the Indira Gandhi International Airport, while the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Limited operates the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.