No flights from Bhuntar till March 31

Kullu, March 23

Flights from the Bhuntar airport in the district were today suspended till March 31. The airport Director, Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, said that the flight operations had been halted following directions from the government. He added that both Air India and Pawan Hans flights were cancelled as well.

Meanwhile, the Bhuntar Beopar Mandal has decided to enforce a complete shutdown till March 25 and only grocery shops would remain open. Bhuntar Beopar Mandal president Pankaj Sethi said that all commercial establishments would remain closed for the next two days and the directions of the government would be followed. The temples in the Kullu valley had also been closed.

Residents of Kullu town were seen purchasing ration and medicines and long queues were witnessed at various shops. A bank in the Akhara Bazaar has stopped entertaining non-home branch customers and also stopped cash withdrawal using the swipe machine in the branch.

Customers rued that even the ATM of the bank was not functioning, causing a lot of hassles. — OC