Lost bag at airport? Log on

Lost your luggage at the airport? Don't fret. In a "first of a kind" initiative that will come as a relief to all such harried travellers, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Monday launched a 'lost and found' section on its website that will help one trace missing baggage.

The initiative, a brainchild of the CISF's director general, is certain to come as a relief to many. The CISF handles security of 57 airports in India. Its website is www.cisf.gov.in

"After looking for the rightful owner of an unattended or lost luggage, if he or she is not found, then it will be handed over to the airport manager. Details of the baggage and when it was found will be uploaded on our website daily in the 'lost and found' section, along with the procedure to claim it," Inspector General (Administration) Ajeet Shekhawat told reporters at a conference in New Delhi.

The CISF will also upload the contact details of the airports officials whom one has to contact to claim those articles. The claimants will have to provide necessary ownership proofs for collecting the baggage.

"This initiative is first of its kind anywhere across the world," Shekhawat said.

According to the CISF, a large number of lost items such as laptops, mobile phones, cameras, handbags, jewellery and cash is collected on a daily basis.

Between January and August this year, goods worth Rs 8,07,37,623 were recovered from various airports manned by the CISF personnel across India. In several instances, it has recovered huge amounts of cash.

Of those, goods worth Rs.1,91,52,824 were handed over to passengers and goods worth Rs.6,15,84,799 were handed over to the airport manager.

Recoveries from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi alone during this period were worth to Rs.2,33,97,305.

During 2007 and 2008, CISF guards recovered valuable articles approximately worth of Rs.11.34 crore and Rs.13.81 crore respectively.

"A large number of items remain unclaimed because of lack of information. We hope our move would benefit a lot of airline travellers. We don't think airline authorities will have any problem with this step. We will modify the system depending upon our experience," Shekhawat added.

The CISF has also put a disclaimer that it is just facilitating the passengers to locate their lost items and is not responsible if an item could not be retrieved.

"As per the procedure, unclaimed items are auctioned three months after their date of recovery," a CISF official said.