Yesterday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the city to inaugurate the swanky new international terminal (T2) of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji airport. For days now, the press and TV channels have been running news about this facility. Its mammoth size, with more that 180 check-in counters, 60 immigration counters for departing passengers, 47 escalators and 73 elevators, amongst other features, promise that passengers not only fly ‘from’ the airport with ease, but ‘fly’ through the airport too.

With the increasing number of travellers, infrastructure had been strained at the airport, and the added counters, elevators, escalators and boarding gates are welcome. A large amount of attention has been paid to aesthetics, with the museum of artifacts being the focus. There are about 7,000 artifacts from more than a thousand artists across the country. The facility will naturally arouse debate and maybe, some criticism at the amount spent, but overall it will make the average Mumbaikar proud.