With just one day to go before the Srinagar airport closes down for 15 days for runway repairs, there was no sign of the centre having relented to offer Kashmir the temporary use of the Awantipur base for civilian flights.
There are definite precedents of the Awantipur option having been made available on earlier occasions, and without much pleading by the state government, but presently, the centre appears to have taken a rigid and uncaring stance , content with letting Kashmiris feel the heat.
Airlines operating services to Srinagar, with an estimated daily traffic of 3000 passengers in nearly 14 flights, have undertaken a massive cancellation of booking s in view of the airport closure which comes bang in the middle of the holiday season with large numbers of Kashmiri studying or working outside wanting to spend Eid with families here.
With resentment running high in the public, the question often asked is why the airport closure coincides with the Eid period when it had already been postponed earlier in view of the Amarnath Yatra.
The business class, another casualty of the closure decision, has strongly appealed to the state and the central government , to at least allow the Indian Airlines to operate its flights to Srinagar during the period.
But there was no indication of any forward movement in exploring options to handle the fallout of closing down the airport which, incidentally, has been upgraded to the “international” status.
The chief minister, Omar Abdullah, was learnt to have had yet another telephonic talk with the defence minister, AK Antony, and the state government had yet to initiate the process of “taking up the matter in writing” with New Delhi.
Some sections in the state government have been advocating an alternative plan to meet the requirements of security in case the Awantipur option is offered to Kashmir.
They are of the view that foolproof security could maintained if check-in and other security formalities were completed at the airport complex and the passengers transported to the Awantipur in special busses.
Meanwhile, the National Conference MP, Ghulam Nabi Rattanpuri, too, was reported to have met the defence minister in recent days with a request to let some flights operate from the Awantipur base and to allow the Indian Airlines to take off and land at the Srinagar Airport so that people don’t face difficulties on the occasion of Eid.
The chairman of the Hurriyat (G) termed the closure of the airport as a “conspiracy” against Kashmiris.
“This is the only airport that is being closed down completely. It could have been kept operating partially even during repairs,” he said.
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