A video posted by an actress and TV personality, Usha Rajak, is going viral on social media platforms where she stated that she and her daughter fell and were injured at the travelator in the arrival section of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
The video has sparked a debate about passenger safety and comfort at the international airport of Nepal.
In the video, posted on Monday midnight, Rajak claimed that the engineering of the inclined travelator was ‘worst’. She said that she and her daughter got minor injuries as they were pressed between the trolley and the suitcase after falling down.
“We were nearly trampled to death when many trolleys gathered on top of each other when coming down this walkway. There were old people and children….My leg nearly broke,” Rajak wrote on Facebook.
After Usha posted this video, there was a rush of supporters. Sharing the video of Usha, actress Karisma Manandhar said that the serious error at the international airport should be rectified and the attention of the relevant authorities should be drawn.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN) has issued a press release and said that their attention has been drawn to this matter.
“There are 3 lifts for passengers using a trolley and a travelator and a staircase for passengers who are not using trolleys,” reads the press release, hinting that the passengers not using trolleys should only use the inclined travelators.
However, the arrival lounge is usually chaotic and there are three sets of lifts serving anywhere between 500 – 700 arriving passengers during peak hours. Hence, many frustrated passengers drag their trolleys down the staircase and the inclined travelator as the queue for the lift is too long.
A travelator is a slow-moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane over a short to medium distance. Travelators can be used by standing or walking on them.
As the baggage claim section is on the first floor, many passengers have shown disapproval saying the baggage claim should have been placed on the ground floor.
The travelator, constructed by IMS Group, took quite a time to be constructed and is open for operations just for over a year.
