VVIP movement hits fliers

While the squeaky clean airport road, on Wednesday, was all set to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israel counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, it was the passengers who were the harried lot, arriving at and leaving the airport.

While the stage performances, on both sides of the road, created a sense of cultural profoundity, hordes of passengers had to drag their heavy suitcases to uncertain destinations as vehicles were not allowed to enter the main tarffic artery on the route.

While those who arrived into the city were seen walking beyond the Taj circle, those who were to depart were seen rushing towards the terminal. Some of them missed their flights too, whereas many were left stranded at the airport. The roads were blocked till 12.45 pm. As soon as the two PM reached the Gandhi Ashram, cops came at rescue of many people and helped ferry them till the terminal into their vehicles. Police vehicles made number of rounds to help passengers.

Vikram Gaur, a regional head of a private company, was seen dragging his luggage and rushing towards the terminal at 11.24 pm for a 12.05 flight to Indore. While he assumed that he would miss the flight, his hope was reignited after he got a call from the Jet Airways. "I got a call stating if I reach in ten minutes, they would allow me on the plane. So, I took help from a cop who gave me a lift on his bike till the terminal. However, they denied of any such call and said it was a miscommunication as I reached. There were at least ten people at the counter screaming on them because of the mess," he said.

Little did Ankit Bhanura, who works with Panasonic, know that his flight trip wouldn't be as smooth as he would have expected. As soon as he came out of the terminal, after flying from Jaipur, he could not find any cab or auto and hence started walking towards the main road. He said, "I have walked for almost a kilometre and even now have no idea where I would be able to get a cab."

A 67-year-old man was seen dragging his luggage and making a way amidst all the arrangements for the roadshow. Ajay Singh, who had come to pick Sahil Parmar, said, "While we understand the security issues, some arrangement should have been made for the senior citizens at least."

Jerome Pereira, who came from the United Kingdom, remained stranded at the airport since 9.30 am. He said, "I have so many bags that I cannot afford to drag all of them on the road. Its nearly three hours that I am waiting for the situation to ease and cab services to resume."

Gopalbhai Gajjar, from Dholka, was fortunate enough to get help from the cops. He was given a drop at the departure bay with his brother and sister-in-law in a police vehicle. "I came to drop my brother who is going to Auckland from Delhi. When the cops saw us dragging suitcases, they offered us help," he said.

Meena Jain, who hails from South India, was supposed to fly to Bengaluru with a group of 27 people. While she and a few more from her group somehow managed to drag their luggage and reach the domestic terminal, after realizing the strenuous walk, she started pleading the cops vehicle ferrying passengers, to get the rest of her members. Stopping the vehicle, she said, "Please help us and bring our family to the terminal. There are old people and kids stranded near the Taj circle with their luggage."

Sharing her experience with DNA, she said: "We had come to Gujarat for a tirthyatra to Palitana and Girnar. Our flight was at 12.00 pm, but thankfully it has been rescheduled for 3.30 pm or else we would have missed our flights. This is a very sad situation. Due to a visit of some other Prime Minister, passengers have to suffer so much."

For Jigar Pandya, an IT professional, who landed from Jaipur, Wednesday was the most unfortunate day. "I am waiting since 10.00 am for a cab or auto. It is not a weekend that passengers would tolerate.

Cops, locals clash at RTO circle

A verbal dispute erupted just hours before at one of the societies that stood along the 7-km route that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart, BenjaminNetanyahu, took while travelling to the Sabarmati Ashram on Wednesday morning.

The Nilkantvani Dhanshamnagar society, located opposite to the Regional Transports Office (RTO), witnessed stray incidents of fight between the security personnel, who were deployed at the spot, and the residents of the society. The road from RTO circle to Vadaj circle was blocked from 7.30am. However, what added to the toil of the masses was that many building gates were locked, leading the office goers to get delayed in reaching office.

SIDELIGHTS

• Children left disappointed as they could not see the Prime Ministers.
   
• Netanyahu did not even open his car’s window to wave hands
   
• After the convoy left the route, people kept looking for an open jeep only to realise that the plan was changed due to security reasons.