The rising airfares
On Sunday when Prime Minister NraendraModi was dedicating and inaugurating various projects costing crores of rupees to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Governor Satya Pal Malik also raised a demand before the PM to intervene and get the airlines reduce the high fares they are charging for travel to Srinagar during winters.
The Governors demand may seem to be a bit irrelevant given the occasion, but the issue has assumed such huge importance that even the governor felt that the people of Kashmir are being cheated and robbed by the private airlines operating from here.
The high charging resorted by the airlines especially during peak summer and winter periods is playing havoc with the lives of the people here. In winter when the arterial Jammu-Srinagar highway closes for weeks together people get stuck in Jammu, Srinagar and other places and to reach their destinations people cannot even imagine using the aerial route.
The airlines resort to brazen loot as an amount of more than 25K is demanded from the people to travel to a distance that is covered through the aerial route in one hour. Even the Governor felt that such unexplainable charges are so high that one can have a round trip to Dubai or any other Gulf country during peak tourism season by spending the same amount.
The mindless high charging phenomenon has been killing the prospect of promoting Kashmir as a tourism destination. Since no road link is available during winters, the tourism trade is dependent on airlines for ferrying tourists to Kashmir in good numbers during the winter.
However, all such activities come to a grinding halt as no tourist bothers to visit a place which makes him to spend a fortune on his travel alone. This way the tourism trade is being killed by the airlines-and this happens every year.
The second aspect that is associated with this issue is the future of the younger generation in Kashmir. Most of the competitive examinations and recruitments to various central agencies and departments take place during winters and when the road link remains blocked students and aspiring candidates have to forgo their chance of making it to these selections even before they actually appear in the selection process.
This year the issue assumed much significance as the NEET and various other examinations were held in Jammu and other places during the month of January and the students from Kashmir could not make it owing to the high prices of air tickets.
Besides, a lot many people travel for business purposes and health issues to various Indian states including Mumbai and New Delhi. But the travel has become all the more unbearable for most of the people as nobody is able to bear the high costs of travel.
The issue of high travel charges has been causing a great concern for the people here. The past governments including that of the PDP and the NC have failed on this front.
Assurances from various civil aviation ministers and Chief Ministers have not been able to solve the problem. The Governor too was candid enough to admit that his administration also tried its bit but the airlines did not even reduce the cost by a single penny.
All this shows that the airlines are working on somebody behest and this phenomenon is being perpetuated just to kill the economy of the region.
KV Network
