The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah took to Twitter to share the prices of airfares people of J&K are being forced to pay to move out of Srinagar. The National Conference’s chief, however, tried to create a sense of fear amongst the people, by craftily sharing the cumulative airfare needed to be borne by 2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant, claiming it to be the airfare for an individual.
However, Twitter users were quick to point out that Abdullah lied by sharing the cumulative fare instead of the fare one person would need to bare and that the fares were high but not as high as the NC chief had claimed.
The selection is for 4 persons
2 Adult
1 Child
1 Infant pic.twitter.com/SVEv2UtsSH— Nirav Shah (@nirav8ahmd) August 3, 2019
Still it’s high but not as you have mentioned. pic.twitter.com/P3bv2HbD26
— Pankaj Priyadershi (@BBCPankajP) August 3, 2019
Although Srinagar to Delhi airfares for today are high, with most airlines charging above Rs 8,000, the fares from tomorrow onwards show a normal range of fare in this route, as per ticketing websites. Even in the screenshot posted by Abdullah, we can see the prices for next few days, which was not high at all.
In view of the advisory issued by the Central Government on Friday directing tourists and Amarnath yatris to leave the Valley immediately citing security concerns, Air India has capped fares of all its flights from Delhi to Srinagar and vice versa till August 15. Speaking to ANI, Air India Spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said Air India flights from Srinagar to New Delhi will cost Rs. 6,715, while flights from New Delhi to Srinagar will cost Rs. 6,899.
The Amarnath Yatra has been suspended since last Sunday due to bad weather conditions on the route and mudslides. However, the Indian Army had held a press conference on August 2 at Srinagar where Gen KJS Dhillon, the commander of Chinar Corps revealed that an American M-24 sniper rifle and Pakistan made mines have been recovered from the Amarnath Yatra route. After that the government moved additional forces to the state, and asked the yatris to return immediately.
Taking into consideration the additional rush of passengers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had on Friday asked Indian airlines to be prepared to operate extra flights to and from Srinagar to fly out Amarnath Yatris and tourists from the Valley.
Soon after DGCA’s directions, the airlines made announcements to give a full fee waiver on rescheduling/cancellation for all its flights to/from Srinagar.
