On Tuesday, the air traffic in Kashmir was affected widely due to inclement weather conditions. Most of the flights were suspended after they failed to take off from Srinagar airport amid moderate snowfall. The operations were suspended days after a huge rush of tourists was witnessed at the airport on New Year’s Eve. Thousands of people landed in Srinagar on New Year and rushed to the top tourist destinations in the valley that include Gulmarg, Pahalgham, Sonamarg and Dal Lake.
The event was speculated and pictures on social media have made it more exciting with tourist footfall returning to the valley after three devastating years economically.
Even two months ago the Union home Minister flagged off the Sharjah flights from the airport remotely at Raj Bhawan aiming to attract high end tourism to the valley.
But the pictures and news reports emerging on January 4 after snowfall are exposing the government’s claims of bringing Kashmir on the international tourism map.
There was no wind storm, no heavy snowfall that could disrupt the air traffic. It was the poor technology available with the air traffic control that hampered its operations. One would question the government how the international promotion of tourism in Kashmir is possible when it sans the basic infrastructure.
More than the promotion, the government of India must build the required basic infrastructure at the airport so that the tourism activities are not affected. Ironically, when the tourists are more interested in exploring Kashmir we put infrastructural hindrances in their endeavors. Time is to work on infrastructure otherwise the promotional events may prove detrimental when the tourists will start leaving Kashmir with a bad impression.
