A petition against the exorbitant airfares for Srinagar will come up for hearing on February 29 in State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in Srinagar.
The petition, filed by JK Peoples Forum, argued that the steep hike in airfare was causing great inconvenience to patients, students and small-time businessmen.
The petition that was first filed in 2014 but could not be heard after the commission turned defunct for two years, noted that the extreme hike in the airfare was also discouraging potential tourists to Kashmir, resulting in economic strain on people associated with tourism.
Those who want to travel by road run the risk of getting stuck on the treacherous Srinagar-Jammu highway due to landslides and snow.
Airfare on Delhi-Srinagar route for March 1 ranges between Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 13,000 and those for Jammu-Delhi at Rs 4,700. The fares increased substantially for Srinagar-Delhi from Rs. 4,000-Rs. 5,000 after snowfall on January 6. At one time it touched Rs. 35,000 for Srinagar-Delhi.
In 2014, SHRC had asked Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to explain why it had failed to control the arbitrary hike in airfares by the airline companies for Srinagar.
Minister for Consumer Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali had recently written a letter to Union Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju, highlighting the “monopolistic” practices being carried out by the airline companies while fixing fares for Srinagar.
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, however, informed the Rajya Sabha that air prices are competitive and based on market economy. "Airline market is based on market economy and there is a lot of competition," he said while defending the airfares.
Kashmir's tour operators have welcomed the SHRC initiative to intervene against unaffordable airfares for Srinagar.
