Flights at Gaggal airport to resume on Monday

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 24

Gaggal airport at Kangra, the busiest airport of Himachal Pradesh, will start flight operations from Monday following the announcement of the Union ministry for civil aviation domestic

Sources here said Gaggal airport would receive flights from Delhi and Chandigarh.

Though the union minister for civil aviation has stated that people travelling by air would not be quarantined, the Himachal government has not accepted the idea.

As per the directives issued by Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Prajapati, only Himachal residents who have valid identity or residence proof of Himachal would be allowed.

In the directive the deputy commissioner has issued an advisory that only those people with valid address of Himachal Pradesh should book flights coming to Dharamsala.

He has also stated in the order that HP residents coming through flights will have to obtain an entry pass from the DM concerned and show it at Gaggal airport. The order states that flights should be booked by people only after taking permit from the authorities concerned.

The order also states that Himachal residents coming from ‘Red Zone’ areas and those with flu symptoms shall be put in institutional quarantine.

The order states that any person who does not have a valid address in Himachal would not be allowed to enter the district and would be put under institutional quarantine at his or her own cost.

The order of the deputy commissioner has been issued to ensure that no person should come to Himachal with the purpose of tourism. Since lockdown all the hotels and restaurants have been lying closed in Himachal. However, still there are many homestays where the people can come and stay.

Before the lockdown five domestic flights, including two flights each of Air India and Spicejet from Delhi used to operator. Air India used to operate a flight between Chandigarh and Dharamsala for six days in a week.

Residents of entire lower Himachal, including those from Kangra, Una, Hamirpur, Chamba and Mandi district, use Gaggal airport for air travel.

It was being expected that many Himachal residents who are trapped in other parts of the country might use domestic flights to come back to the state. However, the real worry for authorities here was to stop suspected coronavirus-infected people directly into community.

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