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Terminal Amnesia: Over Rs 100 crore worth of items lost at Indian Airports

Passengers have forgotten 140 iPhones already at the airport this year, and there have been many more tablets, wallets, jackets...the list goes on. With an average of five things left behind by passengers at the city's airports, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has definitely gotten its hands full, having to handle the bustling lost and found section apart from airport security. In a single Friday the CISF recovered three mobiles, two tablets, and a laptop. In the past six months 12,000 items have already piled up it Lost and Found. Since January around 140 iPhones, 70 iPads, and cash accumulating to over 1 lac have been recovered and by the time this article will be uploaded the number will have grown. Between May 31, 2015 and February 1, passengers travelling through Mumbai airport left behind Rs 2.63 crore worth of unattended items numbering 11,911. Of these 146 items worth Rs 1.17 crore were directly handed over to passengers by the CISF. Besides this, 4,133 unattended items worth Rs 89 lac recovered during this period were handed over to the lost and found department of Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) by CISF, from where passengers later claimed them upon producing proof. Only 28 crores worth of the 100 crore worth of items have so far been claimed according to publicly available records. Very often flyers seem to think what is gone is gone and don't come back for their belongings or it may be too inconvenient. For example one NRI left a bag containing an iPad, MacBook and 300 euros at the security check in Mumbai airport last year, but has not yet claimed it.