AGARTALA, June 12 (TIWN): With the Airport Authority of India (AAI) following a yearlong persuasion of the Tripura Left front government has agreed to kick off the construction work of the Agartala airport expansion. The state government had recently asked the AAI to start the work by the month of December this year without any further delay which has brought anarchy among the displaced locals at Agartala airport area. AAI is expected to kick off the construction spending Rs. 426 crore.In a move that will aid influx of foreign visitors to the North East and make flying to numerous destinations easier, the Agartala airport is going to get a major overhaul. The Chairman of AAI R K Srivastava during his visit to the state previous month said that Agartala airport is upgrading to international standards soon.Whereas, the transport department officials of the state along with Minister Manik Dey expressing displeasure over the delay of the work urged the AAI to undertake the project work without any further delay.Tripura Government has been vocal about boosting flight operations between adjoining nations and the north eastern states. This will help flourish tourism and trade greatly. As of now, Imphal and Guwahati have international airports in the North East region.A total of 72 acres of land had been acquired by the state government here with an aim to make the airport in international standard.

The minister said about 157 families had to be relocated to acquire the 72 acres. To acquire more land, several other families need to be relocated which can be rather tedious for the government, he added. Besides, according to the source the airport authority of the state have send the details for revamp of airport for sanction to the civil aviation ministry.

As of now, Agartala airport handles about 10 aircraft a day. It has flights connecting various Indian cities like Kolkata, Delhi and destinations in southern states. Some fliers from neighbouring Bangladesh also use this airport. Since Agartala is the northeast region’s second largest city in terms of air traffic and population, the airport revamp will prove to be convenient for both residents and authorities.

AAI has successfully upgraded the Imphal Airport. During their visit to the state recently the AAI had also went for the inspection of the progress of Imphal airport. And later arriving here at the state the team had taken a stock of the situation of the Agartala airport needed to be readied before they start the construction work.

The AAI has plans to overhaul operational as well as abandoned airports in the northeastern region. However, viability studies need to be carried out before implementing such plans. As of now, no other airport revamp plan is in the wings after Agartala.

Srivastava said that the Northeastern Council of India will bear the cost of the project along with the AAI. Besides, Minister Manik Dey earlier said, “The AAI has been asking us to provide four more acres of land, but there is a huge scarcity of additional land. However, we will provide this land too.”

According to the official state govt. has already spent a total of Rs. 35 crore for the project work.State government has allotted about 72 acres of land to Airports Authority of India (AAI) to facilitate the Rs 300-crore Agartala airport up gradation project.