The parking lots and busy pick-up and drop-off lanes were unusually empty on Friday in stark contrast to the wide waiting area of Kempegowda International Airport, which was bustling with people. Though the airport was functioning on Friday, the absence of transportation on account of the bandh saw hundreds of passengers stranded with no way to get to the city.
One of them was Kai Aunze from Germany, whose first visit to Bengaluru entailed a long wait at the airport. Scheduled to start an internship with a private company in Electronics City, he had arrived around 8 a.m. but found the taxi stand empty. “We have been trying to find a hotel nearby. But, we can’t even find one,” he said, visibly tired.
Another was Thupten Gelek, a Tibetan monk heading towards Bylakuppe. His attempts to engage a taxi were in vain.
For those who managed to find a cab driver brave enough to ferry passengers, albeit for a premium, there were multiple hurdles along the way.
Hari Prasad, who works in a city hotel, had arrived from Visakhapatnam. He managed to find a driver willing to take him and others to Old Airport Road for Rs. 700 each. He took the ‘back route’ through Devanahalli and Old Madras Road. However, Mr. Prasad was stranded in the rural areas due to multiple road blocks by protestors. It was only after the police dispersed the protestors were they able to proceed but by another circuitous route.
Among those leaving the city, many travellers reached the airport much before the scheduled departure of their flight. Like M. Pradeep and his friends from Kozhikode in Kerala. Even though their flight to Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) was on Friday afternoon, the group arrived at the airport at 7 p.m. on Thursday. “We would rather wait at the airport than take the chance of missing our flight,” he explained.
Traffic policemen reported a vehicular pile-up between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. that stretched several kilometres.
With hundreds waiting at the airport, officials arranged additional chairs. The presence of heavy security prevented any sort of disturbance. A small group of protestors shouted slogans for a few minutes before they were dispersed.
Taxi services resumed around 5 p.m.
