State cancels NOCs to operate 'Vande Bharat' flights to Kol

Kolkata: The state government cancelled all No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to operate 'Vande Bharat' flights to Kolkata from July 1. It has also been decided not to give NOCs to operate the same till the Centre prepares a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure pre-booking of paid institutional quarantine by passengers of the 'Vande Bharat' flights.

This comes as a result of a series of incidents some 10 days back when a few passengers refused to go on institutional quarantine for seven days after landing in Kolkata.

The last 'Vande Bharat' flight that landed in Kolkata was at 5.20 am on July 1. All subsequent flights were cancelled as the state government did not give NOC to operate them.

A senior official said: "Ministry of External Affairs sanctions movement of these flights and seeks NOCs from the state government for the same. A flight cannot be operated unless the state government gives NOC."

In this case, the state government informed the MEA that NOC for further operation of 'Vande Bharat' flights cannot be given unless the new SOP with inclusion of the norms of pre-booking of hotels to stay in quarantine for seven days before boarding is in place. As per the set norms, a foreign returnee has to stay in institutional quarantine for seven days and the next seven days in home quarantine.

Around five 'Vande Bharat' flights have been cancelled from July 1. It includes flights from Dubai and Doha. Usually two flights operate in a day.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha wrote to Secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation PS Kharola on June 30 urging not to operate domestic flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai, Indore, Ahmedabad and Surat to Kolkata for two weeks from July 6 onwards to check the spread of the pandemic in Bengal. Around 25 flights would get cancelled due to the same.