Schools shut in Punjab's Amritsar, Pathankot as a precautionary measure

Schools in five border districts of Punjab remained closed on Tuesday while a blackout was enforced in Amritsar and Hoshiarpur’s Dasuya and Mukerian on Monday as a precautionary measure, news agency PTI reported.

The schools were closed in Amritsar, Pathankot, Fazilka, Ferozepur, and Tarn Taran, however, they remained open in the sixth border district of Gurdaspur, along with Sangrur and Barnala.

Colleges and universities remained closed in Pathankot and Amritsar; however, authorities in Amritsar advised the universities and colleges to conduct online classes, the report added, citing officials.

Earlier today, the Amritsar district administration informed that the civilians can resume their normal activities. This comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first address to the nation after both India and Pakistan reached an “understanding” to “stop all firing and military action”. The understanding was reached on Saturday, days after both India and Pakistan engaged in military action after Pakistan responded to India's ‘Operation Sindoor’ with heavy shelling in border areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

On Monday, drone activity was witnessed in Jalandhar, after which the electricity supply was shut off in certain areas. Himanshu Aggarwal, deputy commissioner, said a suspected “surveillance drone” was spotted near Mand village in Jalandhar, which was neutralised by the armed forces.

Flights impacted

Air India and IndiGo have cancelled several flights to and from several cities in North India, citing safety reasons. The flights were cancelled in areas including Jammu, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, and Rajkot.

This comes a day after the Airport Authority of India (AAI) announced the reopening of 32 airports in India with “immediate effect,” which were previously shut till May 15 owing to the heightened border tensions between India and Pakistan, following Operation Sindoor, which was in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Earlier on Monday evening, an IndiGo flight heading to Amritsar returned to Delhi after blackout measures were enforced and the airport was closed, PTI reported.