Long queues at immigration counters at the Mumbai International Airport have become a bane for most air travellers. The problem gets worse over long weekends and the holiday season as several passengers opt to go abroad during this time and the immigration department is left with very little manpower to handle the pressure. In fact, ever since the international airport shifted to Terminal 2 (T2) on January 10, 2014, there have been several complaints about serpentine queues at immigration counters.
Recently, on January 5, only 12 out of 46 immigration counters were open late night, leading to long queues in the area. Sources said at least 1,500 to 1,700 passengers were waiting at various counters and when they asked the immigration officials to speed up, the latter asked them to wait saying there was not enough staff and the process would take time.
Commenting on the problem, an airport official said, “During holidays and long weekends, passenger traffic shoots up by 25 per cent to 30 per cent and since the immigration process takes time, people have to wait for one and a half to two hours to clear the immigration process. This has become a headache for airport authorities since the last few months. Earlier, Mumbai airport authority had written to the ministry for additional officers at the counters and since opening of T2, the shortage of immigration staff has become a major problem.”
Priyanka Vartak, a frequent traveller who missed her connecting flight on January 7, said, “We talk of e-visa facilities but these officials are very slow and very rude too. While standing in the queue, I saw many old people and kids standing for a long time, which is disturbing.”
