Kolkata has relaxed restrictions on domestic flights and will allow direct flights from six COVID-19 hotpots including Delhi and Mumbai from September 1 onwards. Read on to know more details. By Amitha Ameen
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The West Bengal government on Wednesday relaxed its domestic flight restrictions after receiving several requests to resume flight operations from six COVID-19 hotspots. Flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai and Nagpur will now be allowed three days a week from September 1 onwards, after earlier being banned by the state. “We cannot allow the complete resumption of flight services as of now,” said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the media.
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The decision to do so came as a way to rescue those from Kolkata who are stranded abroad and in these states. While people have been coming into the same through other travel means, this has been causing unnecessary hassles and longer journeys leading to increased risks in community transmission.
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While flights from these places will be allowed to fly into the city, Kolkata will not allow any flights to operate from and to the city on September 7, 11 and 12 as the city will be observing a complete lockdown on those dates.
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In addition to the flight leniencies, the Chief Minister also allowed metro services to resume with necessary precautions in place and added that local trains too may resume in a phased manner.
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