Tripura Transport Minister seeks railway, air connectivity with BD

Dhaka: Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on June 20 wrote separate letters to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu seeking the Centre's intervention to operationalise the international air and railway connectivity with Bangladesh.

The Minister in his detailed letter listed out as many as 10 pending issues and sought the Railway Minister's intervention for speedy redressal, in which the introduction of railway services between India and Bangladesh through Tripura was at the top of the list.

One of the issues mentioned in the letter was “the introduction of regular passenger and goods train services from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka and Agartala to Chattogram through the newly inaugurated Agartala-Akhaura rail link”.

On the other hand, the Minister sought the Union Civil Aviation Minister KR Naidu’s cooperation for the overall development of the civil aviation sector. Sushanta Chowdhury called for upgradation of the MBB airport Agartala to an international airport.

In the letter, he urged to declare “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.”

His letter listed another demand—“extension/development and operationalisation of existing Kailashahar Airport". He also drew the attention of the Minister towards the recent exorbitant hike in flight fares affecting regular flights passengers.