(Rpt, correcting intro)
Agartala, June 17 (UNI) Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha wrote to the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, asking him to fix the airfare cap in the Agartala sector and increase the number of flights.
Due to massive landslides in Meghalaya, the state government has asked for the daily operation of two buses via Dhaka to Kolkata.
Chief Minister on Thursday in a letter to Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia requested to introduce additional lights in Kolkata - Agartala, Delhi - Agartala and Guwahati-Agartala routes and to devise a mechanism putting price cap on airfares for Tripura, as the state has been cut off from rest of the country in road and railways.
He informed that a large number of people have regularly been commuting to and from Agartala from various parts of the country.
Due to damage to the railway line in North Cachar Hills, train services have been suspended for a month to Guwahati, Kolkata, Deoghar, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Habibganj, and road transport has been suspended for the past two days.
With the disconnection of surface transport links, the aviation companies hike the flight fare in the Agartala sector, which created a major hurdle for the people here.
Besides businessmen and entrepreneurs, a large number of students, tourists and patients have been coming to the state and going outside every day, but the exorbitant flight fare caused serious resentment among the people.
Tripura, Mizoram, South Assam and part of Manipur have faced a crisis of petroleum products and essential commodities as several parts of the National Highway 06 under Meghalaya’s Lumshnong area was badly affected due to heavy rain causing severe landslides although the administration claimed the stocks of daily necessities are manageable.
The state government has decided to provide some relief on travel costs for the students and patients with escorts travelling from Agartala to Kolkata, Agartala to Delhi and Agartala to Guwahati as an immediate arrangement. However, Tripura Bhawans in Kolkata, Delhi and Guwahati were asked to extend support to the people of the state.
The Principal Secretary, Transport L H Darlong on Friday said “Incessant rainfall hit Meghalaya for the last one week has badly damaged multiple locations across the East Jaintia Hills district. A section of NH-06 near the Lumshnong Toll Plaza has also washed away, resulting in disruption of vehicle movements.
“In view of this natural calamity, the Tripura government with the permission of the centre has asked the Bangladesh government to start two bus services from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka on a daily basis in a day or two. We also spoke to the Assistant Commissioner of Bangladesh in Agartala to provide a visa within a short span for Tripura people”, Darlong stated.
The Secretary of Food and Civil Supplies Saradindu Chowdhury said, “There is nothing to panic as we have petrol stock available for nine days, diesel for five days and LPG for 17 days. Moreover, many trucks are in transit. We have requested the IOCL to take up the matter with Bangladesh to use their route in case of emergency.”
The state government procured rice and FCI has exported 10,600 MT rice using roadways from Guwahati. At present, we have a stock of rice for 20 days and essential commodities of more than 30 days are available, he said.
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