Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday wrote to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani urging them to introduce two trains between Brahmapur and Surat, special flights between Bhubaneswar and Surat and an acre of land for construction of a community hall for Odia people at Surat, respectively.

In all his letters, Patnaik mentioned that about 7 lakh people from Odisha are residing in Surat and most of them are from south Odisha, especially Ganjam district. They are mainly engaged in powerlooms, dyeing and printing, diamond cutting and other spheres of trade and commerce.

“There is no direct train service between Berhampur and Surat. I once again request you to kindly look into the genuine demand of the people of south Odisha residing in Surat and consider introduction of two new daily trains between Berhampur and Surat at the earliest,” read the letter sent to Goyal.

In his letter to Prabhu, Patnaik mentioned, “Odisha people living in Surat face lot of difficulties in reaching Odisha at the time of urgent necessity. Air connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Surat will not only cater to the requirement of the people from Odisha residing in Surat but would also increase the tourist inflow to both the places. Hence kindly introduce direct flights between Bhubaneswar and Surat at the earliest.”

Similarly, Patnaik urged the Gujarat Chief Minister to provide a patch of land for establishment of a community centre in Surat for Odisha people living there.

“The Government of Odisha is planning to establish a community centre in Surat to meet the requirements of Odia community for their social celebrations. The proposed complex will also serve as a nerve centre of cultural exchange between Odisha and Gujarat,” Patnaik mentioned and urtged him to provide an acre of land at a suitable place in Surat for the purpose.