Heliports being set up to boost tourism in unexplored areas of HP: Jai Ram

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday inaugurated a heliport built at a cost of ₹3.4 crore at Rampur in Shimla district.

He said that the government has taken several initiatives to attract tourists to the unexplored areas and was working to develop a network of heliports to improve air connectivity in the state.

The work at Shimla heliport near Sanjauli bypass road, Baddi in Solan district and Rampur have already been completed under UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, he said. The helicopter service operations will get started at these three sites soon, he added. Meanwhile, the heliport at Kangnidhar in Mandi was near completion and another is being developed at Manali (DGRE, SASE), Jai Ram said.

The CM said the heli-taxi services on Shimla- Rampur-Shimla route were started in December 2021 and flights were operating thrice a week.

The one-way fare per passenger is ₹3,275, he added.

Jai Ram said that his government had recently sent a proposal to extend the helicopter services to Reckong Peo and Chamba.

There are 64 helipads in the state and 38 new ones are being developed, he said, adding that flights on Delhi-Shimla-Delhi route were being restored.

Addressing a public meeting at Rampur, a stronghold of the Congress for decades, Jai Ram said the party was a sinking ship. “Ghulam Nabi Azad left the Congress after 52 years alleging that the party was in hands of immature and arrogant leadership. Similarly, Anand Sharma also resigned after being ignored. Two Congress MLAs of the state have also joined the BJP recently,” he added.

The CM, meanwhile, also inaugurated and laid foundation stones of projects worth ₹24.66 crore in the Rampur assembly segment. He announced ₹ 20 lakh for the construction of a press club too.