Himachal CM to personally monitor work on development projects in Kangra
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that he would personally monitor the progress of development projects being implemented to make Kangra the tourism capital of the state. He presided over a meeting held to review the progress of plans and schemes of various departments in the Mini Secretariat here. The projects he referred to included the zoological park to be built at Bankhandi, water sports facilities to be developed in the Pong Lake, expansion of the Gaggal airport and a state-of-the-art milk plant being set up at Dhagwar.
Sukhu said that the plan to expand the Gaggal airstrip would play an important role in making Kangra the tourism capital of the state. At present, the length of the runway at the airport was only 1,376 metres and according to the plan, it would be expanded to 3,010 metres so that even big aircraft could land and take off. To implement the plan, land in 14 revenue villages of eight panchayats was being acquired.
The Chief Minister said that from March 2025, air flights would be available from the sunrise to the sunset at the Gaggal airport in Kangra, the approval for which had been received. The state government would provide additional security forces to the Airport Authority of India for the purpose.
He said that the process was in underway to give compensation to people displaced after their land was acquired for the expansion of the airport. He added that 50 per cent of the compensation amount would be disbursed by December. Once the Gaggal airport was expanded, the facility of night landing for aircraft would also be available there, he added.
The Chief Minister said that the work to widen roads to four lanes was going on in Kangra district. The district administration should also prioritize making an action plan to develop wayside amenities. The work on a heliport to be developed in Palampur would be started soon, he added.
Sukhu said that administrative and expenditure approval had been given for the construction of the heliport in Palampur at a cost of Rs 13 crore. The Public Works Department had been instructed to start the tender process for it, he added.
The Chief Minister also reviewed the progress of the ongoing work on an ultra-modern milk plant to be built at Dhagwar in Kangra district at a cost of more than Rs 225 crore. He said that various types of products would be prepared in this milk plant and 247 cooperative societies had been formed for the collection of milk.
Ayush Minister Yadvinder Goma, HP Tourism Development Corporation Chairman RS Bali, Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania, Baijnath MLA Kishori Lal, Chief Minister’s Political Adviser Sunil Sharma Bittu, MLA Neeraj Nayyar attended the meeting.
