Mandi (Himachal Pradesh): The Central Government has given green signal for the construction of an airport in Mandi district. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur disclosed this after meeting Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri at New Delhi on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister said that upcoming airport in Mandi district will be constructed in the joint venture by state government and Airport Authority of India (AAI) for which the authority will prepare detailed project report in a week while the state government will hasten up the land acquisition process. He also discussed the expansion of airports in the state and requested for exploring possibilities of the landing of A320 aircraft at Gaggal and ATR74 aircraft in Shimla and Bhuntar airports without load bottlenecks.
He requested for expansion of runways of existing airports. He said that this would not only provide good connectivity but also boost tourism in the state.
Thakur said that air ambulance services needed to be strengthened in the state which was facing problems due to existing terms and conditions. He added that this was vital for the state due to its rough geographical conditions and rescuing tourists in inclement weather conditions. The Union Minister assured of all possible assistance and agreed with the view of Chief Minister about long term planning. Chief Secretary Dr Shrikant Baldi was also present in the meeting.
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