A CORRESPONDENT
SILCHAR: Amid much resentment over the abnormal hike in air fare between Silchar and Guwahati following the disruption of road and rail connectivity after landslides, the Chief Secretary of Assam Ravi Kota said that the Chief Minister had personally taken up the issue with the airline authority. Addressing an assembly of leading citizens in Silchar, Kota, who was on a three-day Barak Valley visit, informed that the Chief Minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, had urged upon the IndiGo authority to keep the air fare within Rs 6,500 for the Silchar-Guwahati flight. After the disruption of rail service in the hill section since June 24 following a series of landslides, the price for the 30-minute flight between Silchar and Guwahati jumped to anywhere between Rs 15,000 and Rs 19,000. Rajya Sabha MP Kanad Purkayastha too took up the issue with the Chief Secretary and elaborated how the exorbitant air fare had aggrieved the common people.
Meanwhile Kota, who inspected the ongoing projects in the Valley, admitted that the connectivity was the main impediment in this part of the state, particularly during the rainy season. He said that the governments, both in the Centre as well as in the State, had initiated a series of infrastructure development projects which would usher in a new era. He stressed upon projects like Barapani-Panchgram expressway, Mainarband-Lanka alternative rail track, and East West corridor, which would be completed by January 2026, and the Doloo greenfield airport.
Kota also reviewed the soon-to-be handed over women’s college and residential school in Sonai, ensuring that essential facilities like electrification, drinking water, and furniture were ready before the students move in. He also examined the progress of tea garden model schools. Kota took stock of the construction of a 50-bedded Critical Care Block at SM Dev Civil Hospital, nearing completion, and reviewed the ambitious 500-bedded emergency hospital project at Silchar Medical College and Hospital.
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