About 400 tonnes of materials is being transported under slung by helicopters to Kedarnath for reconstruction works. The State Government expects that a private company's Mi 17 will also start transporting the load under slung soon.
Along with the construction of 60 helipads and four air strips, the State Government will try to make air travel accessible to the general public of the State in the next six months. The chief principal secretary to the Chief Minister, Rakesh Sharma said this while interacting with the media at the Press Club in Dehradun on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Press Club which was recently reopened after remaining closed for some years, Sharma appreciated the role played by unbiased media. He said that the State would facilitate visits by groups of journalists to Kedarnath and Pithoragarh to report on both the positive and negative aspects of governmental works.
Sharma said, "We plan to formally inaugurate the Pithoragarh airstrip on January 26 next year with flights slated to start here from December this year. The State will launch the Himalaya Darshan scheme from here providing an aerial tour of about 30 minutes to tourists for viewing the unique Himalayan beauty of Uttarakhand. Helicopter service is proving popular with the State Government earning about Rs 60 lakh in revenue from the helicopter service at Dharchula in Pithoragarh district this season."
Speaking about the reconstruction works in the disaster affected Kedarnath area, the CPS said that with 400 tonnes of material to be transported to Kedarnath, helicopters are conducting about half a dozen sorties a day carrying 400 kg load underslung at a time.
A company operating helicopters in Arunachal Pradesh is expected to start transporting materials to Kedarnath using an Mi 17 helicopter in the coming days. Sharma said, "With its out of the box approach, the State Government has undertaken five-years' worth of work in Kedarnath after the 2013 disaster. Apart from this, the State is also constructing 60 helipads and four airstrips across the State. This along with improvement of the road network and economic activity will mitigate the migration of people from the mountainous regions which have so far lacked convenient connectivity," he said.
Replying to a question on the State's debts, he said, "In the 15 years since its creation, Uttarakhand has controlled its debt. All developing economies need to work in debt within safe limits to develop further. This is not an alarming situation for the State as this is a sovereign debt of the Union of India. The State will be able to take the estimated load of about Rs 2,500 crore expected to be generated by implementation of seventh pay commission."
Regarding dev since State creation, he said that while earlier people used to migrate from the mountainous areas to Allahabad, lucknow, Delhi and other towns outside Uttarakhand, the migration trend is now towards Dehradun, Haldwani and other towns in Uttarakhand. Stating that connectivity remains a big issue in Uttarakhand, he added that development happens in decades not days. Press Club executive head Yogesh Bhatt, general secretary Devendra Sati and executive member Ajay Gautam also spoke on the occasion.