Assam Government: Subsidized Silchar-Guwahati flights to resume today

A CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: To the great relief of passengers stranded due to disruption of road and railway connectivity, the State Government has announced resumption of flights between Silchar and Guwahati from tomorrow.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a tweet that the subsidized air service will operate in association with the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) and Fly Big, a private airline. Each ticket will cost Rs 4,000, informed Kumar Padmapani Bora, MD, of ATDC.

For the first two days on Saturday and Sunday, the special flight will depart from Guwahati at 6 pm and return from Silchar at 7:10 pm. From Monday onwards, the flight will take off from Guwahati at 7:45 am and will depart from Silchar at 8.55 am. The tweet further informed that tickets will be available at the ATDC head office at Paltan Bazar, Guwahati and at the Deputy Commissioner's office, Silchar. Tickets can also be booked over mobile phone by dialling the number 81359 02973.

Last month, too, the Chief Minister had taken the initiative for this subsidized air service for the stranded passengers. The airfare was Rs 3,000 and the Government paid the remainder as subsidy to the private airline. Later on, there was a hike of Rs 500 in the airfare. However, with normal vehicular movement resuming on the Jowai-Badarpur route due to gradual improvement of NH-6, the number of air passengers dropped and eventually the special air service was suspended. But since last Wednesday, massive landslides at various points on NH-6 halted vehicular movement on the Jowai-Badarpur road. On Thursday, Silchar MP Dr Rajdeep Roy urged the Chief Minister to ensure resumption of the subsidized air service.

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