Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has directed officials to mark such places from the tourism and disaster management points of view, which do not have helipads. The formation of civil aviation security should also be considered for the security of air strips and major helipads in the State, said the CM. He issued these directions while chairing a meeting to review the work of the civil aviation department.
Rawat said that about 365 acre land area is required for the expansion of the Dehradun airport, for which the civil aviation department should do the needful. The Airports Authority of India should be requested for provision of the night landing facility at Pantnagar airport. Regarding the complaints of overcharging by companies providing helicopter service to Kedarnath, the CM said that the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority should develop an effective mechanism for monitoring the service providers. He also directed officials to draft a policy to enable fixing of some hours for free service for medical cases by the helicopter service providers as part of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority director R Rajesh Kumar informed that this year, against a revenue target of Rs 7 crore, the revenue earned so far was Rs 5.80 crore. In response to the objections raised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation regarding the Nainisaini air strip, the reply has been sent by the State. A request has also been made regarding the appointment of an airport manager at the Nainisaini air strip. The quality of the Chinyalisaud air strip will be checked by the Central Road Research Institute.
He informed that a private airline will start operation of flights for Pantnagar-Dehradun by the month of December this year. Kumar further informed that of the total 13 companies permitted to operate helicopter service to Kedarnath, eight companies are presently providing their services. There are a total of 49 helipads across the state at present, he added.