Gati Shakti: 3 heliports to come up in Darj, Kalimpong & Raigunj
Kolkata: State government will set up heliports in three places — Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Raiganj at an approximate cost of Rs 8 crore.
Once the project is completed it will further boost the tourism infrastructure in North Bengal region.
Sources said that a private helicopter carrier will extend technical support to make the project happen. Licenses have to be obtained from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in which the private carrier may play an important role.
The project will be implemented under the “Gati Shakti” scheme. Many trips will be conducted from all these heliports in a week. Land has been demarcated near Tiger Hill in Darjeeling where the heliport may come up. There will be modern facilities available in each heliport. It will be designed in such a manner so that helicopters will be able land from any of the ends of the heliport ground. Darjeeling and Kalimpong are the favourite destinations which attract a huge number of tourists every year. State government is keen on introducing helicopter services in Darjeeling as it would give a major boost to the tourism sector in north Bengal. Once the service is introduced the tourists will get an opportunity to have aerial views of snow clad Himalayas. State tourism department will also work to help the project happen in the state.
Tourists face difficulties in case of landslides in the hills. Once the heliports are ready, the people will no longer require taking a road route. Initially, there will be limited service but the number of helicopter services will be gradually increased. The state government has been providing a major facelift to the existing helipad at Sagar Islands in South 24 Parganas and also developing infrastructure for two other helipads adjacent to the existing one. The helipads will have state of the art facilities similar to that of Dumurjala helipad in Howrah which is used by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her movement in different parts of the state.
