Dedicated airline for north east soon: Kyndiah

Imphal, Oct 4 (UNI) A special air service for the north eastern states will be launched soon, Union Minister for Doner and tribal affairs P R Kyndiah today said.

Addressing a press conference at the Raj Bhawan here, the Union Minister said the dedicated air service was planned to improve communications in the region as road connectivity was very bad.

Manipur Governor Dr S S Sidhu will head a technical committee to assess the need and requirements and as soon as the report is submitted, the ministry will start working on it, Kyndiah said.

Due to the geographical terrain of the region, small aircraft having 19 seats will be used so that runways with just 3,000 feet can service the planes.

Mr Kyndiah, who has been on a three-day visit to Manipur, completed the tour visiting three hill districts Ukhrul, Tamenglong and Churachandpur.

He said people wanted speedy development and sustained peace. He clarified that as Manipur was in the far most corner in the North East, it required special attention.

For the development of the north eastern region the NEC was also taking up development projects, he said.

For Manipur the ministry was considering Rs 92 crores for health sector, and the regional institute of medical science (RIMS) will be upgraded at the cost of Rs 129 crore. Power projects worth Rs 16.27 crore, Rs 42.63 crore for road works were also under consideration, he said.

The NEC also sanctioned Rs 196.90 crore for improvment of roads he said. To protect the Loktak Lake, one of the biggest fresh water lake in Asia, a sum of Rs 41 crores was sanctioned, he said.

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