Lockdowns, inconstant rules wreak havoc on travel plans

PUNE: A week ago, 45-year-old Harish Dhame, a resident of Pimpri, booked air tickets to Chandigarh. On Thursday, he found out that travel regulations to the Union territory had suddenly changed.
“I came to know only on Thursday that Chandigarh has mandated a negative RT-PCR report issued within 72 hours of travel. I got a message from the airline that I wouldn’t be allowed to board without the report. I must travel on Sunday and so far, I haven’t been able to get a report. I have decided to cancel my trip,” Dhame, a businessman, told TOI.

Frequently changing travel regulations, and many states enforcing lockdowns, has caused no end of trouble for several rail and air passengers.
Many were caught on the wrong foot by sudden changes in travel regulations, while others had to cancel or postpone their trips due to lockdowns.
This showed in the recent passenger traffic figures released by the Pune airport. On May 4, just 838 passengers arrived, 745 left from the Pune airport on 10 flights. On May 5, there was a slight improvement — 1,128 passengers arrived and 1,109 departed. But there was a plunge on May 6, with just 665 passengers arriving and 839 departing.
Kamlesh Dorap, who was to travel on business to Rajasthan on May 9, cancelled his trip. “I came to know Rajasthan was imposing a total lockdown from May 10 to 24. I cannot take a risk as my family is here. I cannot afford to get stuck there,” he said.
Rahul Yadav, a student who planned to go to Kerala on May 12 to attend a wedding, too dropped his plans. “Kerala is under total lockdown from May 8 to May 16 and even though transport from the airport has been allowed, I don’t want to get stuck,” Yadav said.
Train bookings too were getting cancelled. Subh Sinha, who had to go to Kolkata from Pune on May 9, said, “I got a message stating an RT-PCR negative report was a must. I had chosen to go by train instead of taking a flight as I couldn’t get a report on time and so, postponed the trip to July.”
Geeta Sarkar, PRO with South Eastern Railway, confirmed that those without reports would be tested at the originating station. Airlines too said the situation was not ideal for them. “Call centres are flooded with calls, as are our social media platforms,” an airline staffer said.