New Delhi, Dec. 8 -- Amid the ongoing chaos at airports across India due to flight cancellations by airline operator IndiGo, passengers who had checked in for their flights continued to scramble in their search for their baggage at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday. Many at the spot HT spoke to said their luggage was yet to be returned despite days elapsing since their check-ins. "My Thursday flight to Chennai was cancelled but our luggage was already checked in. Yesterday (Friday), when we were allowed back inside to find our luggage, there were thousands of suitcases from different flights, all mixed together, in front of each belt. A huge crowd of people was there, all searching for their bags. It was impossible for us to find anything," said Akshat Gautum, 42. On Saturday afternoon, Gautum was one of hundreds who had been redirected to the arrival gate of Terminal 1 to find their luggage. People in the queue said they ended up here after being redirected to multiple spots across the airport. "I was going to visit my family in Patna on Wednesday, carrying medicine I had brought specially for my father, from a central government health service centre. Its medicine which is not sold in Patna. Our flight was cancelled after being delayed multiple times, and the authorities told us that we will have to come the next day to collect our luggage. I came on Thursday and Friday, but have not been able to find the luggage yet. I do not know what I'll do now," said 32-year-old Kumar Vivek, another person who was in the queue. Over the past four days, around 2,450 flights have been cancelled by airline operator IndiGo, throwing off passengers across the country and stranding most of them without recourse. Many international travellers also complained that they were unable to reach their destinations due to the cancellations. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday exempted IndiGo's Airbus A320 fleet from certain rules on pilot duty hours at night, after a representation from the airline a day earlier. It also allowed Indigo to call back pilots deputed elsewhere for flying duties. Separately, it withdrew a rule that prevented airlines from counting pilot leave as weekly rest to meet flying duty norms. The new norms, based on global benchmarks, were expected to make flying safer, and also improve working conditions for pilots. The relaxation, according to aviation regulator DGCA, was prompted by representations from IndiGo citing "severe operational disruptions, including massive flight cancellations/delays and consequential passenger inconvenience." Thirty-three-year-old Rajan Kumar was worried, as he needed to go to Patna to deliver medicines to his parents. He said that as his parents lived in a village where they couldn't buy the medicine, he had to buy a second set and courier it, at an added expense. Many people said that their professional lives were being negatively affected due to the crisis. "We were travelling from Japan to Rajkhot for a business meeting. Our connecting flight from Delhi to Rajkhot on Wednesday was cancelled, but our luggage was already checked in. We took another flight as the meeting was important, but had to leave behind my suitcase, which had many important documents. Being forced to do our presentation without them, it did not go well," said 48-year-old Nin Renchont. Renchont and his colleague were waiting in the queue on Saturday afternoon, and said that as they were leaving for Japan that evening, they were worried they might have to leave the suitcase behind. Another passenger, requesting anonymity, said that he was supposed to go to Pune on Wednesday for a meeting, but could not due to his flight being cancelled. "I had documents essential to the meeting in my suitcase, which I had checked in. Since the flight got cancelled and the suitcase got lost, the meeting in Pune did not happen. I'm worried about the consequences of this at work, and I am stuck here until I find the bag," he said. Passengers questioned why the airline was allowing luggage to be checked in despite being aware that delays and cancellations were likely to continue. A similar situation was unfolding at the IndiGo ticket counter at the terminal. "I have been stuck here with my 1-year-old daughter since Wednesday, after my connecting flight to Surat was cancelled. Since then, I have been wandering around the airport trying to figure out how to get home, tracking my luggage, which I still have not found, and at the same time, trying to take care of my daughter. Her health is being affected as she is not getting proper food, milk, or water here, due to which I was forced to book a hotel last night too, which was a big added expense," said 29-year-old Supriya Singh, who was sitting in front of the ticket counter, with her daughter in her arms. Multiple passengers said that while they did not have anything essential in their suitcases, it would still be a huge loss if they did not recover them. "My wife and I were going on a holiday, which is now cancelled. Out suitcase had clothes, makeup, other everyday things; losing which would mean a monetary loss," a man at the ticket counter said, requesting anonymity....