In a bid to help out wheel-chair bound passengers, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has introduced a new technical facility. A wheelchair lift or Verti-lift has been recently introduced in the Airport. It is the first of its kind in the entire country. For the wheelchair bound passengers who arrive on aircraft which do not dock at aerobridges, elevators are provided to enable them enter the terminal building to reclaim their baggage.
It was installed as part of the "Accessible India Campaign" to minimize the wait time of wheelchair bound passengers. It is a hard time for them to wait for the escort to reclaim their baggage and it also becomes a big issue for motility. According to the authorities, it is a part of their signature programme, ‘Passenger is Prime’ which was introduced last month. Besides having the verti-lift in the airport, they also made a few other changes to help their passengers with disabilities. Not just having a road side parking facility at the forefront, they have also provided intercom calling facilities at both departure and arrival along with wheel-chair assistance. This assistance will be there from the parking till they check-in.
Currently the airport handles over 18,000 domestic departure passengers on a daily basis. With the verti-lift, it takes around two minutes for a passenger to move up from the gate to the baggage claim area. The lift is electrically powered and can be operated by a remote control after securing the wheelchair bound passenger on to the lift’s platform. The airport has also provided a backup power source to ensure uninterrupted operations of the lift at all times. The authorities expressed their happiness on being the first airport in India to provide this facility. This is a part of the government’s ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhyan’ initiative.
