Coronavirus Lockdown: Maharashtra says no to opening airports in red zones

The Maharashtra government on Sunday reiterated that it would not be able to open airports in red zones for domestic flights from Monday.

"It's extremely ill-advised to reopen airports in red zone," state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said.

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Three big airports of Maharashtra - the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport in Mumbai, and the airports in Pune and Nagpur - all fall under red zone areas.

"Mere thermal scanning of passengers inadequate without swabs. Impossible to have buses, taxis, autos plying at this stage," he said.

Adding a positive passenger will add to the COVID-19 stress to the red zone, he said.

"Getting passengers to come from a green zone to a red one will put them under the risk of exposure, doesn't make sense," he added.

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Deshmukh also pointed out that keeping a busy airport up and running with all coronavirus-safety measures will need huge staff presence and compound risk in the red zone.

On Saturday, the state government had indicated that it was not possible to open domestic flights.

"Our order dated May 19 is not amended yet. The guidelines issued on May 19 for lockdown till May 31 said all domestic and international air travel of passengers, except for domestic medical services, domestic air ambulance and for security purpose or purposes as permitted by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will continue to remain prohibited across the state," according to the official.