Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 5: The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry while appreciating initiative taken by Governor’s Administration over the exploitation of air-passengers for the Srinagar sector, has demanded increase the frequency of flights and also control soaring prices of air travel.
The senior vice president of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nasir Hamid Khan stated that the KCCI had been raising this critical issue since long and had also given several suggestions to the Government in this regard and we hope that effective action would now be taken.
He said it appeared that vested interests were indulging in blatant opportunism and exploitation of helpless travelers. The current policy was discriminatory in nature with one passenger paying two thousand and another paying thirty thousand for a journey of 300 to 700 kms.
With the road link to Kashmir being out of commission for most of the winter months, the only alternative mode of transport for the entire population had become a cash cow for vested interests. Khan stated that this was not only a tourism issue but was a grave public interest issue in which a majority of the population was being exploited and held hostage.
The consequences were serious for patients and their families who have to pay more for air travel than the cost of the medical treatment. Student and their families suffered equally. In addition, the tourism sector becomes out of bounds with entire packages to major tourist destinations costing less than the air travel cost to Kashmir. With the schools and colleges scheduled to open in March and a large number of members of the general public travelling back after the winter months, heavy traffic is expected in February.
While the KCCI appreciates the warning issued by the Governor’s Administration, more stringent measures are required to effectively tackle the menace. It suggested invoking of the Essential Services Act and bringing air travel under its purview, purchase of Block tickets by the State Government and fix quota’s for Medical emergencies, students and the private sector including Tourism, make substantial increase in the number of flights to this sector, initiate an enquiry into the alleged black marketing of tickets and identify the persons/organizations benefiting from this exploitation and take effective measures for opening of all available road links to Srinagar round the clock.
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