TRIPURA: LoP seeks Centre’s intervention over cutting cost of exorbitant air fare between Agartala-Kolkata

The Leader of Opposition and the opposition CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury on Thursday expressed his concern over the exorbitant air fare between the Agartala-Kolkata route and sought the intervention of the Centre to cut the cost.

In his letter to the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia on Thursday, Chaudhury stated, “the current airfare for KOLKATA-AGARTALA Sector has reached an unprecedented high of Rs 17,000. This is particularly distressing given that many of our citizens rely on the more advanced healthcare facilities available in Kolkata and other major cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and New Delhi. The prohibitive cost of air travel is a significant obstacle for them, effectively denying access to essential health services.”

“In light of the widespread poverty in our state, where many struggle to meet even basic needs, such costs are simply untenable,” the letter reads.

The letter further reads, “I urge you to intervene in this matter and take immediate steps to make air travel more affordable for the residents of Tripura. A reduction in airfare would not only alleviate financial stress but also potentially save lives by facilitating access to critical healthcare and the other passengers of low income group.”

Meanwhile, responding to the high air fare, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Thursday said, “Although the Center is well aware of this, we cannot directly bring a control on the air fare set by the aviation sector.”

“Previously we have seen that the flight agencies had stopped its flight operation in view of the tariff fixed by the government. In this case although we are not enabled to directly control this, both the state government and the Centre is putting utmost effort to intervene on cutting the exorbitant cost of the air fare,” Dr Saha told reporters.