The project for setting up of an International Airport at Srinagar has been in the pipeline for over three decades. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah immediately after taking over as Chief Minister of J & K in 1975 had put up a project to Mrs Indra Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, for setting up of an International level Convention Centre with a world class 5-star Hotel to boost Conference Tourism in Kashmir. At the same time it was envisaged that the Srinagar Airport would be upgraded to International level for providing direct access to foreign tourists. Even though the Hotel and the Convention Centre were set up, the project for the up gradation of the Airport remained unattended. Probably the main hurdle had been the security considerations. Srinagar Airport is basically an important strategic defence installation. It is totally under the control of Indian Air Force. This is understandable in view of the history of conflict in the region and the vicinity of the area to the main theatre of operations. The ideal situation would have been an independent facility for the civilian use. This again is restricted by the constraints of space in this particular spot. The only solution for future would be to locate an alternate suitable spot somewhere else in the valley for setting up of a world class Airport for exclusive civilian use. At present the urgent need is to somehow put Srinagar on the “Global Air Routes Map”. Last year after decades of discussions the Union Cabinet finally declared Srinagar as an International Airport. A project for the modification and up gradation of the present terminal to International Standards at a cost of Rs.80 crores was sanctioned. It was given out that the International Airport would become operational in August 2006. However, the pace of work is so slow that it may again be decades before the dream of an International Airport is realised. One can only keep the fingers crossed and hope that the project does not move like the journey of train from Jammu to Udhampur. It is alleged that the work has got stalled due to internal bickering in the Management of Airport Authority. Apart from the new project, the existing working of the Airport is reported to have been adversely affected. There seems to be a shortage of security personnel, these being much lower in number than even at the smaller Jammu Airport, which has delayed the start of some morning flights by King Fisher Airlines and also by some other carriers. The present CM who has himself been the Union Civil Aviation Minister can intervene to accelerate the implementation of the project as well as to streamline the working of the Airport. One fails to understand if all Airports in the country are being manned by CISF, why not J & K Airports? It is most urgent to take immediate action at the highest level in regard to these issues if the overseas flights are planned to start during the current year. In spite of the “crawling project” the Indian Airlines can immediately start direct flights from Srinagar to Dubai and thence to Jeddah. They have already been operating Hajj flights directly from Srinagar to Jeddah with a refuelling stop at Sharjah for last three years. This operation on thrice a week basis can be started even now without waiting for completion of the entire project.

The absence of an International Airport had very adversely affected both the foreign tourist traffic as well as exports of handicrafts from Kashmir. At the peak of tourism in the valley, the foreign traffic never exceeded more than 5% of the total traffic into India. Mumbai and Delhi would get 55% and 45% but Srinagar which was only an hour’s flight away would always get less than 5%. Apart from the absence of “Direct International Connections”, the Delhi-Srinagar connection was an Add On for the International Traveller. Some Airlines would even include Kathmandu, Jaipur and Agra in the same fare but Srinagar was always excluded. This would discourage the International Travellers who had to pay additional fare on domestic sector to visit Kashmir. Exporters were handicapped due to the absence of any direct overseas channel and all the exports had to be routed through Delhi. Even this channel too disappeared after the eruption of turmoil in 1990. People had to ferry goods by surface to Delhi to arrange export to overseas markets. Commissioning of an International Airport would give an immediate boost to both these sectors of the economy. Tourists from all over the world would be able to fly directly into Srinagar. Many Airlines may offer a free stop over on their International Sectors from Europe to South East and Far East. The short haul markets of Middle East, South East Asia, and Central Asia would become the most important tourist generating markets for Kashmir. The flights from all these destinations to Srinagar will have duration of only two to four hours. On the outbound side, Iran and Central Asia hold a lot of fascination for Kashmiris. Islam came to Kashmir from Iran and the leading preacher and saint Sayed Ali Hamadani is buried in Katlan province of Tajikistan. Kashmiris very much resemble in appearance to Iranians and most of our cuisine as well as handicrafts originated from Iran and Central Asia. Once there are direct flights from Srinagar to Tehran and other Iranian cities as well as to Tashkent and many other Central Asian cities, a large number of Kashmiris would like to travel there. An appreciable number of Muslims from the valley travel to Saudi Arabia for performing Umra. With the start of direct flights to Jeddah, this traffic will considerably increase. As already mentioned this route can be taken up for operation immediately. One of the important sectors of the economy which has remained neglected pertains to export of exotic vegetables, cut flowers, and selected fruit as well as dry fruit. There are two aspects for the development of this sector. One is the modern production methods along with post harvest infrastructure and the other is lifting to and marketing of these products in International Markets close to Kashmir such as the Gulf Countries. Once we have the means for picking up of these products and ferrying these in a short period of time to potential markets, there will be an upsurge in production as we have excellent conditions here for growing the top variety of these items in the most sought after organic form. A survey of rates in the Gulf Region for such items presently being brought there from Europe, America, Latin America, Iran, China and South East Asia reveals that our products would be most competitive and of a much better natural and organic variety. With the Airport being slated to become operational as an International Airport shortly, it is the right time to plan for the production and export of these items right now. A time bound “Action Plan” needs to be formulated and acted upon on a top priority basis to cater to this possible opening for Kashmir’s Economy. We are known for setting up power houses without completing first the transmission lines! Both have to proceed simultaneously to get maximum benefit out of such projects. The least one can expect is commissioning of a survey to find out the actual possibilities as well as requirements for en cashing this new channel which may become operational very soon.

One of the most serious problems facing Kashmir at present is the massive unemployment among the educated youth. The Government Establishment is already overstaffed many times over. In fact there is urgent need to trim the Establishment to increase its efficiency. Due to peculiar conditions and atmosphere prevailing in regard to the youth from Kashmir all over the country, they are reluctant to move out. An International Airport can create a totally new channel for the gainful employment of these youth. Firstly, the successful operation of the Airport would require setting up of Consulates, International Airline and IATA approved Travel Agents’ Offices, and on an urgent basis creation of World Class Infrastructure for accommodation, transport and recreation. All this will throw open many avenues of sizeable employment for the local youth. Secondly, the local youth will have the opportunity of finding both skilled as well as unskilled employment abroad. The massive development going on in various Gulf countries has thrown open a vast area for both skilled and unskilled employment. Kashmiris face two handicaps in utilising these opportunities. Most of the recruiting agencies are located in Delhi or Mumbai and their overseas delegations come for recruitment to these cities quite often. It is not possible to keep track of these visits and additionally it is quite expensive for the local youth to travel to Delhi and other cities for interviews etc. With a direct International connection these delegations can fly straight to Srinagar to recruit the local youth. The second handicap for this overseas employment is the delay in getting travel documents. Issuance of a Passport entails clearance from a host of agencies both State as well as Central. This procedure needs to be streamlined by introducing a dependable local guarantor if it is not possible to dispense with it totally for “Security Reasons”. After all our youth would only be going out to get some gainful employment and earn valuable foreign exchange. If they want to go out to create problems, they need not go through all this time consuming and annoyingly ridiculous procedure. However, this being a local problem can be tackled at the State level if one has the political will. Thus it is evident that the setting up of an International Airport will not only open up Kashmir, which was once called “a beautiful prison” by the European Union delegation, but also give a tremendous boost to its economy. Let us hope and pray that the project which has already taken off but is “Stalling” is given full throttle and gets completed soon!