Cancelled flights at Bagdogra leave Switzerland-boundKalimpong students stranded, Raju Bista comes to rescue

Students of Kumudini Homes School, Kalimpong, at a dharna at the deserted Bagdogra airport 

PRASHANT ACHARYA, EOI, SILIGURI, JULY 10, 2022 : The dream of the 20 students of Kumudini Homes School, a part of the pipe and drum band of the Kalimpong school, of travelling to Switzerland to play in the Basel Tattoo Festival all but crashed at Bagdogra airport on Sunday as their flight from Bagdogra to Mumbai as cancelled and they couldnot reach Mumbai in time to catch the international flight. Besides the students, a teacher of the school was also travelling with them. 

BJP M. P. of Darjeeling Raju Bista finally came to their rescue. After the Kumudini Home School authorities sought his help over the phone, Bista flew down from Delhi to Bagdogra and said an alternative arrangement would be made for the students to travel to Switzerland so that they can participate in the event. He said he was also in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs. ""We are now trying to find out in which flight 21 tickets to Switzerland are available. If necessary, I will pay from my own salary to finance the travel of these students," he said. Bista said a complaint would be filed against Spice Jet for repeated  cancellation of flights from Bagdogra. 

Earlier, the students held a demonstration outside the airport gate, as the school authorities pleaded with the authorities to make some alternative arrangement for the students to reach Mumbai in time to catch the connecting flight. 

The team from Kumudini Homes School was supposed to fly to Mumbai by a Spice Jet flight leaving Bagdogra at 4p.m., but the flight was cancelled. The students were told they would be accommodated in the flight to Mumbai at 6 p.m. but that too was cancelled. After that there was no other flight to Mumbai, nor any flight to any other destination from where they could have availed a flight to Mumbai. 

The Bagdogra airport authorities pleaded helplessness, saying it was an issue to be dealt with the concerned airline. 

Representative of Kumudini High School Rajesh Bhusal said at Bagdogra airport that the school authorities had contacted Raju Bista to make an alternative arrangement to help the students stranded, Raju Bista comes to rescue students reach Mumbai.

"Ours is a government school. We can't afford to buy fresh tickets for the students to take another flight to reach Switzerland. The organizers of the event are the Swiss Department of Defense and the Swiss government had funded the entire trip." 

He said the Basel Tatoo Festival was one of the most celebrated of international events of its kind. It was a rare honour for the students to have performed there, among a select audience, as the only school from Asia to have been selected for the event. The event is slated from July 14 to July 24. Besides the students from the Kalimpong school, hundreds of other passengers were held up at Bagdogra airport during the day because of cancellation of flights to Mumbai and Ahmedabad.    

Dr Rupali Birla who was travelling to Mumbai on way to Nasik said she was waiting at the airport since the afternoon to avail a flight along with her family and  now they would have to spend the night in Siliguri. Among all the stranded passengers, the children were the worst sufferers, she said.