Hajj flights resume in J&K, schools open in border areas
A day after flights started operating from Srinagar airport, Hajj flights also resumed on Wednesday. The flights were suspended on May 7, owing to cross border tensions.
Officials said that 642 pilgrims left Srinagar for Delhi from where they would travel to Saudi Arabia.
'The pilgrims flew in four flights from Srinagar airport to Delhi from where they boarded two flights to Saudi Arabia,' said Shujaat Ahmad Qureshi, executive officer of the J&K Haj Committee.
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He said that direct flights from Srinagar to Jeddah could not operate given the recent incidents. 'There was no green signal from Centre to the international flights,' he said.
The flight operations at the airport were suspended on May 7 when India targeted terror infrastructure at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam attack. Since the attack, the militaries and airforce of the two nations carried out missile and drone attacks on each other till a ceasefire was announced on May 10.
Hajj flights from Srinagar were also affected due to the closure of the airport. The first batch of 178 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir had left for Saudi Arabia on May 4 for the annual pilgrimage, but the authorities had to cancel seven flights that were to leave between May 7 and 12.
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Qureshi said that a new schedule will be announced for the seven flights that were cancelled.
This year, 3,622 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir and 242 from Ladakh are performing the Hajj pilgrimage. Srinagar airport was to operate 11 Hajj flights between May 4 and 15.
Schools, colleges open in border districts
A day after the schools and colleges opened in non-border districts of the Valley, the educational institutes at the border areas also became operational on Wednesday. Officials said that schools and colleges opened in Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara districts.
'The educational institutions opened but the attendance of students was very low. Less than half of students attended class,' said a professor of Degree College Baramulla.
However, the educational institutions close to Line of Control in these districts have not yet opened.
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