Jun 28, 2011 09:09 PM
7145 Views
One must give a prize to the state government for making Srinagar the most tourist unfriendly airport in the world. It also shows how callous the government actually is, and here they have an excuse to harass people - security! These Omar Abdullahs and the likes do not visit USA to see how security is handled there? But let le come back to Srinagar Airport.
To catch a flight, one must reach at least 3 hours before the flight. Security officials allow one vehicle at a time, then one has to remove luggage and have it X-rayed outside the airport. Then join the shouting crowd waiting outside(no queue or system) when another security person asks you which flight you are taking, then asks you to join another queue. And so on.
At the same time, locals, small time bureaucrats and their fat daughters are allowed in, while you wait out in the sun.
Once inside, have the luggage X-rayed again, go for hand patting at least three or four times, identify your luggage. There are no signs or guiding instructions. The phone booths do not work. And if you want a snack, be sure to have the exact change - first, the untidy person serving the snacks will mumble something you do not understand, ask you to wait till he gets change, and conveniently pocket the proceeds if you forget, as you are most likely to, in the melee.
Security is OK, but does it mean that tourists should be harassed in this way? The state government does everything to keep tourists out, it is quite a wonder that people still come to Srinagar. And the silly politicians and unknown bureaucrats who go about complaining about "bad treatment" at US airports should try to board a flight as a tourist from Srinagar. Maybe then they would get it inside their thick heads how humiliating Indian airports are!
