AGARTALA:
In a bid to give air connectivity in Tripura a fillip, the state government is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for construction of a new airport at Kailashahar, headquarters of Unakoti district.
Informing this at a programme of Indian Medical Association (IMA) on March 26, chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that the state government will provide 500 acres of land at the Hiracherra Tea Estate to build the new airport at an estimated cost of Rs 500- Rs 700 crore.
Deb also informed that the abandoned Kailashahar airport is very small and there is hardly any scope for expansion of the runway and other facilities, and therefore a new airport is required for better air connectivity.
Notably, the old airport located near the Indo-Bangla border has been shut down since the early 90s on account of lack of adequate passengers.
Deb said that Kailashahar airport will be the second airport in the state, the first being the Tripura airport which connects the state to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, apart from Guwahati, and Imphal.
Highlighting the work of the present government, he said as far as connectivity is concerned, the government is leveraging to develop railways, national highways, waterways, and airways in the region.
During the programme, Deb also informed that the Ministry of Shipping has already sanctioned Rs. 25 crore for setting up 10 jetties from Udaipur to Sonamura and undertaking dredging in the river Gomati to operationalise the Indo-Bangladesh waterway project.