The Airport closure
Srinagar does not have a Civil Airport but it is an Air Base
being allowed to be used by the civilian flights also
M. Ashraf
The already uncertain situation in Kashmir has further been compounded by the decision of the Indian Air Force authorities in Srinagar to close the Airport for a fortnight to enable resurfacing of the runway. Before one goes into the timing and other merits and demerits of the decision, it needs to be clarified that there is no civilian airport in Srinagar. On the contrary it has always been an Air Base operated and controlled by the Indian Air Force. After the Indian forces landed here on October 27, 1947, and took control of the Airfield it has remained under the control of the Air Force. On the old Airfield there was a small wooden terminal building which was used for civilian flights. After the Air Base was expanded and the new runway laid, the civilian operations were shifted to the present side by constructing a new terminal building. At that time it was probably envisaged that the Air Force operations would be completely shifted to the newly set up Air base at Koil in Awantipora. However, this did not happen and both the bases remained with the Air Force.
A few years back, the Union Cabinet declared Srinagar Airport as an International Airport and sanctioned the modification of the existing terminal building to handle International flights which ultimately proved to be a cruel joke. In real terms, it was an anomaly to declare it as an International Airport. In fact, what they had done was to sanction the upgrading of the building to somewhat International standards. The runway, the Air Traffic Control, and all operations continue to be with the Air Force. They have the last word in all matters concerning the Civil Aviation operations. The Airports Authority of India which operates and controls all the Airports in the country has no jurisdiction in such matters in Kashmir. There has been a tussle going on between two organisations in regard to timing of civilian flights, installation of Instrument Landing System and many other similar matters but due to ever green "Security Reasons" the Air Force authorities enjoy the overriding powers unlike other parts of India.
In all other metros and all over the country the airports as well as the air space except in times of war are controlled by the Civil Aviation organisation. Not in Kashmir. Here, everything is under the direct control of Defence Authorities all the time! The local Air Force authorities cannot be blamed for the tussle. They have to carry out the orders of the Ministry of Defence. One has to understand that Kashmir is of prime strategic location for India both in regard to Pakistan and China. The Air Force Bases in Kashmir and Ladakh are a great asset for the Indian Defence authorities. Most of the destructive sorties on the Pakistani bases in 1965 were mounted from the Srinagar Air Base. Similarly, in 1999 Kargil War, it was the Srinagar Base which enabled through Air Force the throwing back of the Pakistani intruders from various heights. As such the Defence authorities will never agree to relinquish their hold on these bases in Kashmir.
There have been many other grievances relating to the Airport. It has multiple tiers of security not seen on any other airport in the world. The sole international flight to Dubai was started with great fanfare by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi. However, it was discontinued in less than a year of operation. The present closure smacks of communal bias. During the pilgrimage to the holy cave of Amaranth it continued to be operational but just close to the festival of Eid it is planned to be closed. But the fault lies with the State Government. The decision of resurfacing has been in the pipeline for sometime. The State Government could have made alternate arrangements a month back. They are now trying to do it in panic. Even their attempt to relocate flights to Awantipora Base has run into problem with the Civil Aviation Security. All these deficiencies with the present operation of civilian flights are possible to be taken care of. The best alternative in practical terms is an independent civilian facility outside the Defence network. Not a big deal to achieve if there are sincere leaders pleading the same and the Centre has the will to do so!
Kashmir's greatest misfortune has been the attitude of it's, what are known as the mainstream leaders. Their sole aim has been self-aggrandisement. They have never bothered sincerely to do something for the overall interests of both the Kashmiris and the land of Kashmir itself. Had they been honest and sincere, they would not have mortgaged all the resources of Kashmir to the Central Government. There are no two opinions regarding the basic fact that Kashmir has enough resources to sustain itself. These include the hydro-electric power potential, the massive forest cover, the potential for agro-industries and last but not the least, the massive potential for International tourism both the summer and winter! Instead of taking genuine steps to make us self-reliant, they have ensured total economic dependence of Kashmir on outsiders. Massive investments have been made in unproductive sectors thereby neglecting the most important ones. Even if some investment has been made in these sectors, major portion of it has been gobbled by the corrupt system established and nourished by them all these years.
Their only slogan to deceive the people has been the so called "Autonomy" which has been buried by the Central Government long time back. Let them try only to get some autonomy in the operation of civilian flights. It will be a great contribution! As already mentioned, this can be achieved by getting a totally civilian airport of International standards complete in all respects and without any interference of the Defence Authorities. It is something achievable in a matter of few years through some global agencies as has been done in the case of Delhi. The Central Government keeps on waving the wands of notes of thousands of crores in regard to various projects in Kashmir. A full fledged civilian airport will cost only a couple of hundred crores or so! There cannot be a bigger confidence building measure than this in the present circumstances of total alienation! Will somebody at the highest level give a serious thought to this and make at the least an announcement to this effect? Never mind the host of other promises yet to be kept! One more won't make a big difference! At least it will show that somebody does care for Kashmiris!
Comments at: ashrafmjk@gmail.com

Stop yelling at the problem..!
Robert Clements
This morning there was a mini traffic jam at the entrance of the road I live in caused by a school, where parents were driving in with their children and indiscriminately parking on the road. Later those staying along my road met the principal and yelled at her about the problem her school was causing, when suddenly somebody said, "What is the solution?"
"Solution?" asked the irritated car owners.
"Yes, lets look for a solution not just focus on the problem!"
And within five minutes a solution was found; drop the kids at a designated spot farther where a safe corridor would be formed for them to walk to the school.
The problem was solved, when people started looking for a solution.
When we teach ourselves to do this we will be pleasantly surprised to find the solutions were there all the time, staring at us:
When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found that pens wouldn't work at zero gravity, as ink wouldn't flow down to the writing surface. To solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million:
They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
And what did the Russians do? They used a pencil.
Here's one more delightful incident: One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the empty soapbox, which happened in one of Japan 's biggest cosmetics companies.
The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soapbox that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soapbox went through the assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers to solve the problem.
Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soapboxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent a huge amount to do so.
But when an employee was posed with the same problem, he did not get into complications of X-rays, etc, but instead came out with another solution: He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soapbox passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line!
When you stop yelling at the problem and focus on solving it, you will come up with simple solutions..! bobsbanter@gmail.com