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Updated May 24th, 2020 at 14:10 IST

'Postured that they want more trains & buses, now opposing air travel': BJP slams Congress

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra attacked the Congress-ruled state governments over the refusal of opening up airports in their respective states

Reported by: Pritesh Kamath
Sambit Patra
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BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra attacked the Congress-ruled state governments over the refusal of opening up airports in their respective states. This comes after the Congress-composite state governments in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh have voiced opposition to Centre's move of resuming domestic air travel from May 25. Patra alleged that the Congress-led governments wanted more trains and buses for migrants but have now refused to open airports, proving the point that the Congress-led governments, in reality, did not want the trains and buses carrying migrants to enter their state, but postured as they wanted more trains and buses for migrants.

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Maharashtra voices against reopening airports

Maharashtra's Home Minister on Sunday said that thee move of resuming domestic air travel is an 'extremely ill-advised' decision. Taking to Twitter, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said that if airports are in red zone then 'mere thermal scanning is inadequate without swabs.' He also opposed the plying of autos, cabs and buses in the red zones, adding that it will increase the COVID stress. 

Ahead of Deshmukh's tweet, the Principal Secretary to Maharashtra's Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Bhushan Gagrani said that the state government has not amended its lockdown order dated May 19, yet adding that the air travel remains suspended as per the previous guidelines.

Although the Chhattisgarh government has not opposed the move openly, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wrote to civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri and rail minister Piyush Goyal demanding SOPs for passengers, a mandatory 14-day quarantine, and insisted that the state government must receive prior information, including contact details, of all passengers who choose to travel. Raising concerns over the resumption of flight services without any SOP, Baghel asserted that it should be made operational only with strict and effective guidelines.

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Domestic flights on 1/3rd capacity

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday announced the resumption of domestic flight operations from May 25. However, while making the announcement, Puri said that the domestic flight operations shall be restricted to 1/3rd capacity of the approved summer schedule 2020. He explained the capacity for three categories of operations -- metro to metro cities, metro to non-metro cities, and non-metro to non-metro cities. Puri elaborated that metro cities imply Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. This order shall continue till 23.59 hours on August 24, 2020.

Standard Operating Procedures for the recommencement of domestic air operations were also released. During the briefing, Puri reiterated that no meal services would be available on the flight. He mentioned that the cabin crew must wear a full protective suit. He also clarified that the passengers shall have to abide by the norms set by the destination state.

 According to the SOPs, the passenger seating arrangement shall be done in such a manner so as to maintain social distancing and registration with the Aarogya Setu app will be a must.

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Published May 24th, 2020 at 14:10 IST

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