December 07, 2022 – Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has given strict instructions to stop the black marketing of tickets for heli services in Chardham Yatra. Instead, he has asked the officials to make arrangements for booking tickets for heli services through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
While presiding over the eighth meeting of the Civil Aviation Development Authority Board of Directors at the Secretariat on Tuesday, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami directed that based on better air facilities, we have to motivate people to come to Uttarakhand. The Chief Minister also asked UCADA to pay attention to the efforts to increase the sources of income.
He also asked to make Naini Saini, Chinyalisaur, and Gauchar airstrips functional. The CM said that during the Chardham Yatra every year, devotees are worried about the black marketing of heli tickets.
70 percent of Heli Tickets were with GMVN in the State
He also asked to focus on developing the heliport under the UDAN scheme. In the meeting, Secretary of Civil Aviation Dilip Jawalkar and Chief Executive Officer of UCADA C Ravi Shankar informed about the departmental activities.
It may be noted that so far, 70 percent booking of heli tickets in the State is made through the portal of GMVN and 30 percent through the level of heli service providers. Chief Secretary Dr. SS Sandhu, Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, Anand Bardhan, Special Principal Secretary Abhinav Kumar, Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Shailesh Bagoli, Arvind Singh Hyanki, Dr. Pankaj Kumar Pandey and other officers were present in the meeting.
Heli services from Jollygrant-Airport
Along with making arrangements for night landing at Pantnagar, the Chief Minister talked about running regular air services from there. It was also directed that after getting off the plane at Pantnagar and Jollygrant, the tourists should be provided with the facility of the helicopter to visit various picturesque tourist places of the State.