DVS puts drought loss at Rs 5,000 cr; to meet PM for aid

May 1, 2012

Bangalore, May 1: Pegging the estimated loss caused by drought at Rs 5,000 crore, Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda today expressed hope that the Centre would share at least half of this burden to help the BJP government carry out relief works on a war-footing.

Gowda is leading an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Union Ministers to discuss the drought conditions and seek Central assistance to overcome the calamity which has hit 25 of the 30 districts.

Talking to reporters on the eve of his three-day visit to Delhi, Gowda said he would meet Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar tomorrow and apprise him of the condition of farmers who were the worst sufferers due to drought, which has been the most severe that the state has witnessed in last eight years.

The delegation would also meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to seek immediate release of funds.

Gowda said the visit of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to a drought-hit village in the state last week would help Karnataka get a better package.

The Chief Minister said he would also discuss the problems faced by red-gram growers and sericulture farmers in the state with the concerned ministers.

The all-party delegation would include Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar and some other ministers, Congress Leader and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, Chairperson of the Legislative Council Motamma and Janata Dal(S) leaders H D Revanna and Basavaraj Horatti.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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