Four killed in protest against Modi’s visit

COX’S BAZAR: At least four people were killed in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong on Friday after police fired rubber bullets at protesters during a demonstration against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a police official said.

“We had to fire teargas and rubber bullets to disperse them as they entered a police station

NEW DELHI: The reopening of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 1 has been delayed again at a time when Covid cases are rising again in the country, officials aware of the development said on condition of anonymity.

The terminal, which was to open on March 28, is now likely to be opened only in May, one of the officials cited above said, adding that the decision was taken as the Union ministry of civil aviation has only allowed 80% air traffic movement at airports, which can be handled by Terminals 2 and 3.

Terminal 1 was shut on March 25 last year, two days after international flight operations were suspended due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Two months later, when air operations in the country resumed on May 25, only Terminal 3 was opened.

Terminal 2 eventually resumed functioning on October 1, while Terminal 1 continued to stay shut to facilitate ongoing expansion work.

The Delhi airport operator, DIAL (Delhi International Airport Ltd), was planning to resume operations at Terminal 1 on Thursday as the government was expected to allow 100% air traffic movement.

The reopening was first pushed to March 28, and has now been delayed further because the government is yet to take a call on when full-fledged flight movements will be permitted.

“The airport operator was planning to open only a portion of the terminal, with the ongoing expansion work continuing in the remaining area. Around 200 flight movements were planned from Terminal 1 on resumption of operations, and we were expecting a daily passenger footfall of roughly 35,000 to 50,000. Two airlines — IndiGo and SpiceJet — were to shift their operations to Terminal 1. The reopening of the terminal has now been postponed by about four to five weeks at least,” said an official who asked not to be named.

He added that this will give the airport operator time to resume operations from a much wider area of Terminal 1, which will help enhance passenger experience when it does become functional again.

A second official, who asked not to be named, said all the planning for the reopening was in place — airlines had scheduled

their flight operations, and they have now been asked to inform flyers about the change.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which secures the airport and conducts security checks at the Security Hold Area inside the terminal, had also planned its deployment.

“We have not officially been told about the postponement. We were present at the terminal throughout, even when it was shut. As the reopening was

planned, we had decided to strategically deploy our commandos inside the terminal at different points and on the periphery of the building, following a detailed survey. Whenever the airport operator decides to resume operations from Terminal 1, we will be ready to provide adequate security,” a senior CISF officer said, asking not to be named.

Spice Jet and IndiGo declined to comment.