Shimla: The way for the first heliport in Himachal Pradesh has been paved. For the convenience of the people, the state government has made preparations to build a heliport in every district, and in this series the first heliport will be built in Palampur.
For this, the land available in the Agricultural University campus has been transferred to the tourism department and now there is a possibility of starting the construction of the heliport soon.
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that a detailed project report in this regard would be prepared soon. The proposed land for the heliport is located at Chaudhary Saravan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, which is located at a distance of three kilometers from Palampur town.
Sukhu said that the State Government was making efforts to construct heliports near all the district headquarters with a view to reduce the travel time for tourists.
All the district deputy commissioners have been instructed to mark land for the construction of heliports in their respective areas. He said that this would not only boost tourism in the state but would also help in emergency situations. This will also help in airlifting patients in medical emergency.
The site of the heliport is about three kilometers from Palampur and it is likely to cost nine crore rupees for its construction. According to the information, the provision of the budget for the construction of the heliport is with the government, and in such a situation, this heliport will soon be available to the people.
After the formation of the new government in the state, during the visit of Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu to Palampur on March 8, along with providing all the information in this context, the land available with the Agricultural University and the correspondence being done with the tourism department regarding this scheme was also told about.
Chief Minister Sukhu had entrusted the responsibility of further activities in this context to his Principal Advisor Gokul Butail.
On March 11, under the leadership of Gokul Butail, the next action was initiated by visiting the possible site of the heliport with the concerned officials and now the way for the construction of the heliport has been cleared with the transfer of land.
Airport facility is available in Gaggal. In this situation, the construction of heliport in Palampur will benefit the tourists coming to places like Baijnath, Bir-Billing and Chamunda. A heliport will be constructed on an area of about 3.17 hectares and this will create new possibilities for tourism development.
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu said that Kangra is being developed as the tourism capital of the state and efforts are being made to further strengthen the infrastructure to promote tourism in the district.
He said that the work of expansion of Kangra airport is in progress and the length of runway will be increased from 1372 meters to 3010 meters so that bigger aircraft can also land here.
He said that the development of tourism facilities is expected to increase tourist traffic and generate more employment opportunities for the youth.