Agartala: The Tripura government has sought immediate intervention of the Centre to ensure affordable fare for Agartala-Kolkata and Agartala-Guwahati sectors flights considering the communication bottleneck in the state.
In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi on Wednesday, State Transport Minister Manik Dey said suddenly the airline operators have almost doubled the airfare in both the sectors, which has created a serious problem for people of Tripura.
”Since we do not have sustainable railway connectivity with rest of the country, people are forced to avail the air at least up to Kolkata or Guwahati for travelling outside and the airfare hike has adversely affected the commoners,” Mr Dey mentioned.
He also pointed out besides private airlines-Jet Airways, Spicejet and Indigo, Air India has also hiked the fare almost double and now the minimum fare for Agartala- Kolkata sector now is Rs 3300, which was only about Rs 1600-1800 a week ago.
Apart from tourists, a large number of people from the state were travelling to different parts of the country via Kolkata, but this unusual fare hike has made the life miserable for the passengers, as there was no other option left for travelling to outside the state.
Mr Dey requested Ravi to reduce the airfare in these sectors considering the geographical isolation and necessity of air travel.
”People of Tripura are not availing air trip for enjoyment, it is the only means of sustainable transportation to and form the state,” he observed. (UNI)