Uttarakhand To Get 18 New Heli-Routes For Seamless Connectivity Within The Hill State

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday (8 October) announced 18 new heli routes to connect the hilly areas of Uttarakhand.

These new heli routes will be in addition to the three new routes on Dehradun-Pithoragarh-Dehradun, Pithoragarh-Hindon-Pithoragarh and Pantnagar-Pithoragarh-Pantnagar sector.

Scindia was in Dehradun on Thursday to launch a sectoral event of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in collaboration with FICCI and the Uttarakhand Government.

On the occasion, helicopter service on Dehradun-Haldwani-Pantnagar-Pithoragarh-Pantnagar-Haldwani-Dehradun-Sector and Chinyalisaur-Sahastradhara-Chinyalisaur Sector were also flagged off. The helicopter service will be provided by Pawan Hans and Heritage Aviation respectively.

The Civil Aviation Ministry in a statement said that he inauguration of the heli routes in Uttarakhand region is in line with the objective of the UDAN scheme of the government to enhance the aerial connectivity of hilly areas in the country.

Thirteen more heliports have been identified in Uttarakhand to provide seamless connectivity within the state, the ministry said.

Expansion of helicopter service in Uttarakhand is expected to boost the tourism in the state, which has four holy Hindu Shrines - Shri Kedarnath, Shri Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - and many tourist destinations.