Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday met Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in New Delhi and discussed the proposed expansion of the Kangra airport.
The chief minister also said the state government intends to construct heliports in district headquarters and tribal areas and urged Scindia to approve a proposal to set up nine heliports in the state. According to the expansion proposal, the runway at the airport will be expanded from 1,376 metres to 3,010 metres for the operation of bigger aircraft like the Airbus A320. Excluding the compensation amount for land acquisition, the project cost has been estimated at Rs 10,995.69 crore.
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Sukhu urged the Union minister to give directions to the Airports Authority of India for starting the expansion work and assured that his government will complete the land acquisition process, an official statement issued here said. Highlighting the importance of heliports, Sukhu said they are crucial for boosting tourism in the tribal and remote areas of the state as well as to providing emergency medical services and evacuation of local people and tourists in case they are stranded in snow-bound areas.
Sukhu also discussed with the Union minister the operationalisation of the Sanjauli heliport and sought additional flights from Chandigarh to Kullu to facilitate tourists. At present, three flights are operational for Shimla, four for Dharamshala but only one for Kullu which is not enough keeping in view the high number of tourists visiting Kullu and Manali, he said.
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Scindia, according to the statement, told the CM that four heliports at Rakkad, Palampur, Chamba, and Reckong Peo were being considered under the 'UDAN' scheme. He also directed the officers of the ministry to speed up the process of operationalisation of Sanjauli heliport and assured of all possible support to the state, the statement said.
