Heliport in heart of Shimla to give wings to tourism
Shimla: Packed to its capacity, during peak tourist season, and also weekend, Shimla —the erstwhile capital of India during the British era, is set to get new wings with a dedicated heliport in the heart of the town.
Completed at a cost of Rs 18 crore, the heliport near Sanjauli will facilitate tourism related helicopter flights to different towns from Shimla, apart from medical emergencies and joy rides. This is the first dedicated and state owned heliport in Shimla, which is also capital of Himachal Pradesh, which has poor air connectivity despite being a center of major tourists attraction.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur inaugurated the heliport on Wednesday.
Till now, the state government has been using a helipad at Annandale ground, which is under Army control while another helipad is at Kalyani, near Charabra, a high security zone being used for the President of India next to his holiday Retreat.
The Chief Minister said the Central government has provided Rs 12.13 crore for construction of the heliport in Shimla under Himalayan Circuit of the 'Swadesh Darshan' programme and Rs 6 crore under UDAN-2.
The heliport would not only provide much needed relief to the high-end tourists visiting the state, besides being effectively used in case of medical emergency as this heliport was near IGMC, Shimla.
The three-storeyed heliport has all the modern facilities like reception counter, heliport manager office, ticket counter and VIP lounge etc. The heliport also has Porata Cabin facilities for arrival of passengers, parking for 50 vehicles, deck for helicopter and safety net.
The Chief Minister invited the private players to operate flights for the tourists and offer joy rides to the tourists in Shimla. Spread in an area of 10.3 bigha land, the heliport has been beautified by mural painting and has been fully equipped with CCTV surveillance system.
The Chief Minister said heliports were also being constructed at Baddi, Rampur and Mandi under Udaan-II scheme of Government of India.
The state government would soon send a proposal of construction of new heliports at Reckong Peo, Chamba, Dalhousie, Jhanjeli, Jawalaji etc. to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation which would give new fillip to tourism activities in these areas.
Thakur said that special emphasis was being laid on air connectivity along with four laning of National Highways connecting main tourist destinations in the State.
At present there are 64 helipads in the state and 38 new helipads were being constructed by the state government, he added.
The Chief Minister said that heliports and helipads would prove beneficial in near features from tourism, connectivity and emergency point of view.
The foundation for the heliport was laid by earlier Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh ,who had left the need for such a heliport in Shimla.
Shimla though has an airport located at Jubbarhatti, 25 km from the town but has no flights coming to the airport making it a 'white elephant' despite huge investments made in late 1980s.
