Uttarakhand Chief Secy discusses issues concerning civil aviation with Hardeep Singh Puri

Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh on Thursday apprised Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri of the state's progress and various issues they were facing pertaining to civil aviation.

Puri interacted with officials of Uttarakhand and eight other northern and western states through video conferencing.

"Digital technology certainly comes in handy and enables you to be at many places at the same time. I interacted with senior officials from 9 Northern and Western states through video conferencing and discussed and resolved several issues pertaining to civil aviation," Puri tweeted on the interaction.

Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh informed the Union Minister that airline services on the Dehradun-Pantnagar route were being run by Alliance Air and Dehradun-Pithoragarh, Pithoragarh-Dehradun and Pithoragarh-Hindon were being operated by Heritage Aviation.

"He further requested the Union Minister to expedite the procedure of operationalization of third phase routes -- Pantnagar-Chandigarh, Pantnagar-Allahabad, Pantnagar-Lucknow, Pantnagar-Kanpur, Dehradun-Allahabad, and Pithoragarh-Pantnagar routes," read an official release by the Uttarakhand Chief Minister's office.

The Union Minister was also briefed about the plans of expansion of Jolly Grant Airport where he was informed that an 'in-principle approval' to develop it as an international airport has been acquired.

"After the first phase of expansion, the runway will be expanded to 2765 metre from the current length of 2140m which will enable aircraft like Airbus A321 and Airbus A320 to ply here," the press release read.

The government has also acquired an 'in-principle' approval to further expand the runway up to 3500 metres, Singh said.

"The Chief Secretary also requested permission to conduct air operations under Non- Schedule Operator's Permit at selected sites under the Regional Connectivity Scheme. The move would lessen the financial burden of the government to which the minister agreed," the release read.

( With inputs from ANI )