With the airport authorities trying to satisfy passengers by providing them all possible facilities under one roof, it seems that they have ignored the needs of workers at the cargo terminal
With the airport authorities trying to satisfy passengers by providing them all possible facilities under one roof, it seems that they have ignored the needs of workers at the cargo terminal. No doctor has been assigned shifts at the terminal since the new international terminal 2, T2, opened.
Since the T2 opened officially on February 12, doctors were only assigned shifts at the departure and arrival terminals here, and at the domestic terminal. File pic
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Initially, the medical inspection team used to allot rotational shifts to its doctors for the international, domestic and cargo terminals. But since February 12, the doctors are only assigned at T2 and domestic terminals.
Vijay Chitre, president of Maharashtra Maal Vahtuk Sena, said, “I have been constantly writing letters to GVK (the airport operator) about their carelessness towards the workers.
Maximum revenue is earned from Cargo but they care the least about the support staff here. Neither nurses nor doctors are present at Cargo. Doctors, however, rush from T2 to attend a need in Cargo. It was only after we asked for it that a dedicated ambulance has now been arranged.”
The official spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said, “At the cargo facility, we have a dedicated medical centre operated by qualified paramedic nurses.
They are trained to attend all kinds of injuries and emergencies, and in Basic Life Support. Doctors are available on call 24x7 at T2 and T1, and they immediately attend to any emergency at Cargo from airside. There is also a cardiac ambulance stationed at the cargo facility.”
But an airport official said on the condition of anonymity, “There are 15-20 paramedic nurses in all and very few of them are trained in the Basic Life Support course. There have been two incidences where doctors had to rush to Cargo from T2 after emergency calls.”
He added, “Cases related to cardiac and orthopaedic are mainly seen in cargo when something really heavy falls on a worker.” On the contrary, Varun Agarwal, who is associated with the terminal, said, “There are very few (emergency) incidences that take place in the cargo terminal. I have not seen any major case till now.”
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