BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 20th July 2024: : Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury today wrote a letter to the Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw demanding resumption of Agartala to Mizoram flights, declaring MBB Airport as International airport and train services from Agartala to Dhaka, Chittagong.
In the letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Sushanta demanded declaring MBB Airport as International Airport and Operation of International Flights from MBB Airport as Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India has already declared the Agartala airport as Customs Check post.
He also demanded of extension and development and operationalization of existing Kailashahar Airport under Unakoti District.
The minister in his letter said that recently withdrawal of IndiGo flights on routes like Kolkata Agartala Lengpui, Kolkata-Agartala-Shillong, and Kolkata-Agartala has led to exorbitant Airfare in the sector.
“These flights are crucial for connecting Kolkata, Agartala, and Shillong, providing essential services. Their discontinuation inviting huge public criticism. This impacts on sectors like tourism, healthcare, emergency services, education, and the overall economy of the regions involved. Therefore, these services may kindly be immediately resumed or services in those routes may be arranged to start through other suitable air operators”, he demanded.
In a separate letter, the Minister demanded to the Union Railway Minister on introduction of regular passengers and goods train services from Agartala (Tripura)- Kolkata via Dhaka, Bangladesh and Agartala (Tripura) to Chittagong (Bangladesh) through newly inaugurated Agartala (India) -Akhaura (Bangladesh) rail link.
He also demanded electrification of Railway tracks from Badarpur to Sabroom Conversion of existing single line rail track into double line track and introduction of additional daily passenger train on Agartala-Dharmanagar route.
Sushanta further demanded to introduce Agartala-Guwahati Inter-City Train services aling with introduction of Agartala to Jammu, Puri and Gaya Train Services.
He also asked alternative Rail connectivity from Pecharthal – Kailashahar-Dharmanagar and Dharmanagar to Belonia via Kailasahar, Kamalpur, Khowai and Agartala and also introduction of Belonia-Feni Rail link.
