AGARTALA, July 21 � Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has demanded for declaring Agartala Airport as an international airport with connectivity to Dhaka, Chittagong and other foreign locations.
The demand was placed before the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh when the Chief Minister met him in Delhi on Saturday. Sarkar stated Agartala Airport is the second busiest airport in the Northeastern region after Guwahati and presently 22 flights operate to and from Agartala carrying 2,700 passengers everyday.
Sarkar pointed out making Agartala Airport an international airport was recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport and Civil Aviation. In fact, it functioned as an international airport when the Prime Minister of Bangladesh visited the State last year. �We want the Civil Aviation Ministry to take necessary steps for declaration of Agartala Airport as international airport and its further development�, he said.
In view of the increasing traffic volume at Agartala Airport, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had prepared a plan for modernisation of the airport, he said, adding that the AAI would reduce the requirement of land through optimum utilisation of land already available with it. �This process needs to be expedited�, he told the Union Minister.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister also urged the Union Minister to operationalise Kailashahar and Kamalpur airports to cater to the needs of the local people. Besides, he also requested him to introduce Air India flight on Agartala-Kolkata-Delhi route in the afternoon.
The Chief Minister, later, called on Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes in his residence in Delhi and handed over a memorandum. The memorandum contains proposals for improving the road connectivity of the State.
In reply, the Union Minister assured that all the proposals would be supported by his Ministry. Fernandes also informed he would hold a meeting with all the Chief Ministers of Northeastern States on August 2 to review the progress of the works of road connectivity. The Union Minister further indicated plans to visit the State sometime in September.
