16 heliports to be built to promote tourism: Himachal CM

Shimla, September 2

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu has stressed the need to strengthen air connectivity to increase tourist footfall and achieve the target of around five crore tourist arrivals every year.

Sukhu, while presiding over a meeting on Friday evening here, said that 16 heliports were being constructed in all district headquarters, including tribal and far-flung areas, in a phased manner to facilitate tourists and enable them to have access to unexplored destinations.

A detailed presentation was made at the meeting on how to enhance tourist footfall to achieve the desired target. In the first phase, nine heliports would be developed, namely at Jaskot village in Nadaun tehsil of Hamirpur district, Rakkar and Palampur in Kangra, Sultanpur in Chamba, Manali in Kullu, Jispa, Sissu and Rangrik in Lahaul and Spiti and Sharbo in Kinnaur.

The Chief Minister said, “Detailed project reports (DPRs) for the construction of heliports at Sultanpur, Rakkar, Palampur and Jaskot have been received while for other heliports, the process is underway. Besides, the Kangra airport is being expanded to facilitate high-end tourists.”

He said, “In the second phase, the remaining seven heliports will be set up at Pangi and Holi in Chamba, Auhar village in Bilaspur, Dhar Kiyari village in Sirmaur, Chanshal in Shimla, Jankaur Har village in Una and Galang village in Solan. The approval under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) for the Rakkar heliport has been received and the FCA cases of the heliports at Jaskot, Manali, Jispa, Sissu, Rangrik, Pangi and Holi have been uploaded on the portal. When the destinations are made easily accessible, many people will prefer to travel there, giving a fillip to tourism and giving a boost to the economy.”