Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 7: Ruckus broke out at Srinagar Airport today evening after two special flights carrying Hajj pilgrims of Valley were cancelled due to lack of landing approval.
An official, wishing anonymity, said that two Air India flights carrying pilgrims after culmination of annual Hajj pilgrimage from Jeddah to Srinagar delayed their take-off at Delhi Airport. One of the two flights carrying pilgrims took off from Delhi Airport despite delay this evening but was denied landing approval by Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) at Srinagar Airport and it had to return.
“The flight was hovering for about 25 minutes in air near Kulgam but finally it returned to Delhi because of lack of approval,” said the official. He said another Hajj flight, which was scheduled to fly after the first one, did not fly at all for similar reason. “They did not follow given time slot and hence were denied landing,” he said.
Director, Airport Authority of India (AAI) Sharad Kumar told Excelsior that both flights had no approval from DGCA for landing. “Both of these flights were carrying 440 Hajj pilgrims and one of them which flew from Delhi to Srinagar had presumed that they would be given landing approval but it did not happen and thus, it was diverted back to Delhi after hovering for about 15 minutes,” he said.
Soon after Airport authorities informed people who had gathered outside Airport terminal for receiving Hajj pilgrims about the flight cancellations, they created ruckus and indulged in massive sloganeering against the Government. The protesters lashed out at concerned authorities as well as Government for “poor arrangements”.
As protests grew strong, police resorted to mild lathicharge to restore the order. The situation normalized later and people returned to their respective places. The Director, AAI said the people resorted to protests because they felt bad at cancellation of flights. “They were waiting since morning and they felt bad after they were told that the pilgrims are not coming today,” he said, adding: “the situation is normal now.”
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