The state transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Tuesday said that the abandoned airport in Kailasahar in Tripura Unakoti district will be made operational soon. The minister visited the abandoned airport in Kailasahar and chaired a high-level meeting with the officials of the transport department and the Airport Authority of India.
DM of Unakoti district Tarit Kanti Chakma, MLA Birjit Sinha and others were present during the visit of the minister.
“The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken an initiative to expand air connectivity across the country by developing the inactive airports and as part of this the Kailasahar airport was marked in the list of those airport which are to be expanded under the UDAAN Scheme of the Central government,” Chowdhury said, adding that the abandoned airport in Kailasahar will be made operational soon as part of expansion of air connectivity in the North-East region of the country.
He said, “Re-opening of Kailasahar airport will significantly boost tourism in Unakoti district of the state.”
Meanwhile, the MLA Birjit Sinha who accompanied the minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Tuesday said, “Rs. 350-400 crores were sanctioned during the time of UPA-II government for expansion of the Kailasahar airport, but the then Left front government was reluctant to work on it and hence the airport remained abandoned and no initiative was taken further to re-open the airport.”
He said, “Flight services from the Kailasahar airport will be made operational soon as the Union Ministry has taken up the issue on priority basis. Primarily flight services will be made available between Kailasahar-Agartala and vice versa and another between Kailasahar-Kolkata and vice versa.”
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