New Delhi (NVI): The West Bengal government wrote a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry to allow flights to operate from six cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad from September 1.
In a letter, the state government wrote, “Restriction on flights coming in from six cities, is being partially lifted from September 1 onwards.”
However, flights from these cities can come to the state thrice a week, it added.
The state government also urged the ministry to ensure that there is no flight coming to or going out of any airport of West Bengal on September 7, 11 & 12 as the state will observe complete lockdown on these three days.
“Kindly ensure that there is no flight coming to or going out of any airport of West Bengal on 7th, 11th & 12th September as the state will observe complete lockdown on these three days,” the letter further mentioned.
Earlier, the Kolkata airport has announced an extension on restrictions of flights arriving in Kolkata from six metro cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nagpur, and Ahmedabad, till August 31 in view of the coronavirus crisis.
All these cities are COVID-19 hotspots and have reported the highest number of cases in the country so far.
The state government had earlier announced a ban on a passenger flight to Kolkata from these cities from July 6 onwards.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday announced a series of relaxations including resuming flight operations from 6 COVID hotspot states, but extended the closure of educational institutes till September 20.
While announcing complete lockdown across West Bengal on September 7, 11 and 12, Banerjee said metro train services can resume by observing social distancing and other precautionary measures.
“Schools, colleges and other educational institutes would remain closed in the state till September 20. The other existing restrictions would be in place. There would be complete Lockdown in the state on September 7, 11 and 12,” she said.
West Bengal’s coronavirus tally stands at 1,47,775 after 2,974 more people tested positive for the virus in the past 55 hours, while the COVID-19 death toll rose to 2,964.
-RJV
