Wednesday, 07 December 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has directed officials to work for expansion of helicopter services while also ensuring effective control on mishaps in the State. He said that attention should also be paid to night landing facility at Pantnagar airport along with the expansion and development of infrastructural facilities in Pantnagar and Dehradun airports. Dhami also directed the officials to focus on ensuring an effective system for an efficient ticket booking system and preventing the black marketing of tickets while providing better air services to pilgrims during the Char Dham Yatra and the tourists visiting the State. The chief minister issued these directions while presiding over the eighth meeting of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) board of directors here on Tuesday.
Addressing the officials, the chief minister said that the State will have to motivate people to visit Uttarakhand on the basis of better air services. The focus should be on creating an atmosphere which turns visiting Uttarakhand into a habit of the people. He also stressed on the need for consolidated efforts to boost the State’s image as a friendly State and further encouraging tourism and religious tourism. Dhami also directed UCADA to focus on efforts to increase sources of income. He said that efforts should be made to install night landing facility at Pantnagar airport and start operation of regular flights from there. Attempts should also be made to provide helicopter service to tourists arriving by flights at Pantnagar and Dehradun so they can be flown to various tourist spots. Facilities should also be developed at Naini Saini, Chinyalisaud and Gauchar airstrips so that small aircraft facility can be provided here. The CM further said that an effective system should be put in place for efficient booking of helicopter tickets and prevention of the black marketing of tickets during the Char Dham Yatra. He also talked about facilitating the arrangement for booking of helicopter tickets through IRCTC.
The Civil Aviation secretary Dilip Jawalkar and UCADA chief executive officer C Ravishankar informed about the departmental activities in the meeting. Chief secretary SS Sandhu, additional chief secretaries Radha Raturi, Anand Bardhan, special principal secretary Abhinav Kumar, secretaries R Meenakshi Sundaram, Shailesh Bagauli, Arvid Singh Hyanki and Pankaj Pandey among others were also present in the meeting.
