Shimla: With the Airports Authority of India (AAI) rejecting the proposed site for setting up of an international airport near Kandaghat, the state government has selected Gungardhar near Mandi as the new site which would offer hindrance-free landing of bigger aircraft.
The proposal was placed before the Union Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority India (AAI) by Vijai Singh Mankotia, Chairman of the State Tourism Development Board, in New Delhi yesterday. He pleaded the case of Himachal in restoring flights from Shimla and Kullu and also setting up of an international airport in the state at the All India Conference of Tourism Ministers in New Delhi, yesterday.
“I have offered a proposal from the side of the state government that a vast expanse of land was available near Gungardhar, on the outskirts of Mandi, for the setting up of the international airport in case Kandaghat site has been rejected,” said Mankotia.
He said the Chief Minister had suggested the site which was a flat plateau and the officials had been directed to get all the papers ready.
The issue of setting up of an international airport in Himachal has been hanging fire for the past 15 years. Initially, a site near Sundernagar had been selected but finally 224 acres of land near Kandaghat was selected. A technical team from the AAI also visited the site in June this year. The AAI team had initially said that about 500 acres of more land would be required for the airport.
Now, with the AAI rejecting the site, the state government has come up with an alternate site. “The absence of an international airport in the state, regular flights from three airports at Shimla, Kullu and Dharamsala is the biggest impediment to promoting Himachal as an international destination,” said Mankotia.
31/12/14 Pratibha Chauhan/Tribune
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
The proposal was placed before the Union Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority India (AAI) by Vijai Singh Mankotia, Chairman of the State Tourism Development Board, in New Delhi yesterday. He pleaded the case of Himachal in restoring flights from Shimla and Kullu and also setting up of an international airport in the state at the All India Conference of Tourism Ministers in New Delhi, yesterday.
“I have offered a proposal from the side of the state government that a vast expanse of land was available near Gungardhar, on the outskirts of Mandi, for the setting up of the international airport in case Kandaghat site has been rejected,” said Mankotia.
He said the Chief Minister had suggested the site which was a flat plateau and the officials had been directed to get all the papers ready.
The issue of setting up of an international airport in Himachal has been hanging fire for the past 15 years. Initially, a site near Sundernagar had been selected but finally 224 acres of land near Kandaghat was selected. A technical team from the AAI also visited the site in June this year. The AAI team had initially said that about 500 acres of more land would be required for the airport.
Now, with the AAI rejecting the site, the state government has come up with an alternate site. “The absence of an international airport in the state, regular flights from three airports at Shimla, Kullu and Dharamsala is the biggest impediment to promoting Himachal as an international destination,” said Mankotia.
31/12/14 Pratibha Chauhan/Tribune
