Tripura looks to tap Bangladesh routes for transport, essential supplies after NH collapse in Meghalaya | North East India News,The Indian Express
Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha wrote to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia seeking his intervention to introduce additional flights in the Agartala-Guwahati, Agartala-Kolkata and Agartala-Delhi routes.
After road connectivity was hit due to the collapse of parts of National Highway 06 at Meghalaya, Tripura announced on Friday that it would introduce two pairs of buses to transport passengers via Bangladesh, in addition to a bus service currently active in the Agartala-Dhaka-Kolkata route. The state government has also asked Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to take up the issue of fuel supplies through Bangladesh for emergencies.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Transport Secretary L H Darlong informed the media that the state government has requested the Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner’s office at Agartala to expedite the process of issuing visas to Indian nationals wishing to travel via Akhaura Integrated Check Post here as two pairs of additional buses are about to commence operation between the two countries soon.
As per reports from the local Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner’s office, around 500-600 applications are submitted daily for visas to travel to the neighbouring country. Most of these visa requests are for tourism or for meeting relatives in Bangladesh as many citizens of Tripura are those who migrated during the Partition or before the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Meanwhile, Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha wrote to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia seeking his intervention to introduce additional flights in the Agartala-Guwahati, Agartala-Kolkata and Agartala-Delhi routes. Chief minister Saha also requested the Union minister to have the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issue a price cap and make sure airline operators don’t charge exorbitant prices for their services during this time.
The government is also thinking of providing financial relief to students and patients travelling on these routes, the transport secretary informed.
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