Flights to Kolkata from six Indian cities have been temporarily suspended till August 31. These cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai, and Ahmedabad. By Kumar Shree
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has long been seeking a ban on incoming flights to Kolkata flying from COVID-19 hotspot cities. After a letter written by West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha to the Aviation Ministry, the ban has finally been put into motion.
Earlier, incoming flights from these COVID-19 hotspots was restricted till July 19. As reported by the Free Press Journal, Mr Sinha in his letter to the Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, PS Kharola had written, “West Bengal is witnessing a steep rise in cases… Accordingly, I request you not to schedule any flight to Kolkata or Bagdogra from high prevalence places viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai, Indore, Ahmedabad, and Surat for two weeks from July.”
View this post on Instagram
Then, Kolkata Airport also tweeted to inform passengers about the development. “It is informed that no flights shall operate to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad from 6th to 19th July 2020 or till further order whichever is earlier. Inconvenience caused is regretted,” it wrote on its handle. Now, a report by The Times of India reports the extension of this ban citing increase in COVID-19 cases at the hotspots.
Earlier West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also voiced her concern about how health protocols and quarantine rules were being overlooked for those travelling via domestic flights. Such neglect is resulting in more Coronavirus cases in the country. She had also pointed out the case where a COVID-19 positive person took a flight from Chennai.
View this post on Instagram
This is not the first instance where a state has decided to ban flights from high COVID-19 cities. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have also imposed such restrictions on flights from Maharashtra and other states with high infection rate.
West Bengal has reported 1,04,326 confirmed cases as on August 13, 2020, of which 76,120 have been recovered.
Related: West Bengal Extends Lockdown Till July 31 And This Is What Travellers Need To Know