Chennai Airport

Arriving at Chennai airport on an international flight makes one sick. The long lines of people waiting to get their passports stamped on arrival is the beginning of all woes. The area around the conveyor belt is filthy with litter and the staff are not presentable whether it is their dress or even in being polite - this includes the immigration officer who stamps the passport on arrival. He looks at the passport photograph and then looks at the person as if the former was a criminal of some sort. Outside the airport there are umpteen beggars taxi drivers touts and the lot trying to ask one where he is going and whteher their luggage needs to be carried - even if it were a small backpack. Many NRIs of Tamil origin are ashamed of their capital city and they prefer to travel to either Bangalore Kochi or Trivandrum. With several other cities like Bangalore getting a new airport and more international flights I feel many people even to Tamilnadu will be avoiding the Chennai airport in future. The Governments involved must have sufficient police presence at both the airport and train stations to prevent tired international travellers from being harassed. Also the whole of Chennai needs a bit of education in how to be clean. If nothing is going to be done to make Chennai a safe comfortable and clean place for arrival I think it will soon lose its position as 'Gateway to the South'.