Andaman Sheekha, Port Blair: Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma, the Member of Parliament of Andaman and Nicobar Islands today called on the Lt. Governor of ANI and requested his personal intervention in designating the name of the new upcoming bridge over Humphrey Strait as ‘Manoranjan Bhakta Bridge’.
During the meeting the Member of Parliament mentioned that the long pending demand of the people of North & Middle Andaman is being fulfilled by building a bridge over Humphrey Strait, connecting Uttara – Gandhighat locality encouraging all walks of life to see their dreams comes to reality.
He mentioned that the Humphrey Strait Bridge & Middle strait Bridges are the lifeline of South Andaman and Middle & North Andaman Islands as it will provide a huge impetus and boost to the Tourism sector & fast connectivity resulting in the socio-economic development of the Islands.
The Member of Parliament pointed out that the true brainchild of the construction of the bridges across Andaman & Nicobar Islands was actually incepted by Late Shri Manoranjan Bhakta, Ex-Member of Parliament, A&N Islands, the longest parliamentarian of the the Andaman and Nicobar Islands i.e. from 1977 to 1999 and again from 2004 to 2009, he served eight terms as Member of Parliament for this constituency. He had dreamt of connecting Mayabunder to Diglipur under North & Middle Andaman and other two bridges – one over Humphrey Strait and other over middle strait.
In his tenure, he could fulfill his vision by constructing the Austin Bridge which connects from Mayabunder to Diglipur. The two bridges couldn’t be completed due to various reasons.
Now, to pay homage to the maestro and to the great veteran leader of the North & Middle Andaman, Mr Kuldeep Rai Sharma requested the Lt. Governor to designate the new bridge in the name of ‘Manoranjan Bhakta Bridge’ to mark a sense of tribute to the legendary leader of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
During the meeting the Member of Parliament also raised the issue of Cath Lab and demanded to start operation of Cath Lab as soon as possible, considering the threat to the life of heart patients of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma also requested intervention of the Lt. Governor in controlling airfare in Mainland – Port Blair sector. According to the Member of Parliament said that the airfare from Chennai to Port Blair, in the month of September, ranges from Rs.9,347 to Rs.22,271. Similarly airfare between Kolkata and Port Blair, in the month of September, ranges from Rs. 9,638 to Rs. 20,244, which is unaffordable for Islanders, especially people from low-income groups and Islanders, who need to travel to mainland for urgent needs such as specialized treatment and education.
Stretcher patients referred to mainland for further specialized treatment are the worst sufferers as they have to pay about Rs. 80,000/- to Rs. 90,000/- or more for one way airfare.
Mr. Sharma said that before lockdowns, the airfare in this sector was between Rs. 3500 to Rs. 6000 range, which has now gone beyond the reach of common man, even if he/she has to travel for treatment in mainland.
The Member of Parliament added that the high airfare is not only pushing Islanders of this remote UT to further remoteness but also has become a major hurdle in promotion of Tourism, which already suffered heavy loss because of the pandemic and left thousands of people unemployed.
He mentioned that because of the astronomical high airfare people are not booking tour packages of Andaman and even booked packages are being either cancelled or postponed.
