Tripura unveils 5-ft bronze statue of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore, CM says past govts didn’t respect royals

The statue, which has a two-foot base and a three-foot figure and weighs 1200 kg, was built by artists from Tripura Government College of Art and Craft.

Saha said that back in the seventies no one considered Tripura to have the potential to host one of the best airports in the Northeast. He said that 30-32 flights now operated from Agartala, with 4,000-plus passengers travelling daily.

“We have been taking it up repeatedly for commencing the services of an international airport. We are engaging with Delhi to chalk out the formalities of immigration and international air connectivity. We want the first flight to Chittagong to start as fast as possible. Our cabinet has already decided to provide the gap funding. We are doing the necessary work under the lead of PM Modi for development of roads, railways, air connectivity, waterways connectivity and internet connectivity,” he said.

Unveiled a Bronze Statue of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur, the architect of modern Tripura, at MBB Airport, Agartala today.

The vision and leadership of Maharaja Bir Bikram will continue to inspire generations.

The statue is an honour from our Government to the… pic.twitter.com/nbwA56Y5PZ

— Prof.(Dr.) Manik Saha(Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrManikSaha2) March 10, 2024

“This airport was known as Singerbil airport in our childhood. A small airport used to be operational here. Considering the way the erstwhile Manikya dynasty worked for the development of Tripura, they were not properly recognised but since our government was formed in Delhi in 2014 and in 2018 in Tripura, we have tried to honour the erstwhile royals. This airport was rechristened after Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur. PM Modi inaugurated this new airport building and we felt that a statue of the last reigning king should be set up here. We spoke with the Union aviation minister and local officials and have set up this statue with Rs 35 lakh,” the chief minister said.

Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said the state government had been working to ensure unity between tribals and non-tribals. Rechristening the airport after Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur in 2018 was among the first steps in that direction, he added.

Criticising the erstwhile Left Front government, Chowdhury said, “The previous government was averse to renaming it after the Maharaja. Soon after our government was formed in 2018, we honoured Maharaja Bir Bikram by naming the airport after him and setting up his fibre statue. However, after this new airport was commissioned in 2022, we felt a need to set up a statue on the new airport premises… People will know about the last reigning king when they come to this state”.

“We have already finalised our list of staff members for immigration and will soon send it to the MHA. We hope to start international flight operations with Chittagong soon. Tripura will emerge as a major stakeholder in the international scenario. It will soon emerge as the best state in the Northeast in the economic, social, cultural, commercial and other sectors,” he said.

As per the state government’s plan, three flights will fly between Chittagong of Bangladesh and Agartala every week with a ticket fare of Rs 4,500. While full occupancy is not expected in the first few years of operation, the government has decided to bear Rs 15 crore expenditure annually as viable gap funding that would aim to subsidise 50 per cent of the operational cost shortfall in the first three years.

On why Chittagong was chosen instead of more popular Dhaka, the government had earlier said the decision had been made following a survey on passenger preferences and fund requirements. However, flights to Dhaka and other popular destinations like Bangkok, Singapore and Malaysia will be started in future if demand arises from passengers, according to the government.

Before the airport’s runway was extended and developed into a passenger airport, way before the current airport was even conceptualised, the erstwhile Singherbil airstrip was started in 1942 in the thick of World War II by Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur. The airport is testimony to several flight operations that took place during the Greater War. It also played a big role in the 1971 war.