Centre has given nod to chopper service: CM
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 14 2018: Chief Minister N Biren stated on the floor of the Manipur Legislative Assembly during question hour today that the Central Government has given its consent to opening helicopter passenger service in the State, particularly in the interior areas of the hill districts.

Replying to a query raised by Congress MLA Dr Chaltonlien Amo, Biren stated that the helicopter service would be funded jointly by the Central Government and the State Government at the ratio of 75:25.Considering the interior areas of the hill districts which are inaccessible by road, the BJP-led coalition Government has been urging the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Civil Aviation for introduction of passenger helicopter service in the State, said the Chief Minister.

There are three helicopters for Arunachal Pradesh and one for Nagaland.

In the same vein, the Home Ministry has given its consent to introduce helicopter passenger service in the State, Biren informed the House.

He said that due communications are being made with regard to operationalisation of the new initiative.

Two officials including the Transport Director would go to Delhi within a couple of days to discuss the matter with the Central Government officials concerned.

The passenger helicopter service would be introduced in phase manner and the first phase would cover Imphal-Moreh sector and Imphal-Tamenglong- Jiribam sector.

The second phase would cover Imphal-Tipaimukh, Imphal-Henglep, Imphal-Thanlon and Imphal-Parbung sectors.

However, no timeline has been fixed for launching the helicopter service, Biren said.

As for the fares, it has been tentatively that a 20 minute flight would cost around Rs 7000.Out of this sum, the Home Ministry would bear Rs 2500, Rs 2340 by the State Government and Rs 2160 by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, he explained.

Responding to a question raised by K Ranjit, the Chief Minister said that the process of vehicle registration and issuance of driving licences has been computerised and registration cards as well as driving licences are issued in the form of smart cards.

To check multiplication of vehicles in the State, the State Cabinet would discuss about first checking the number of vehicles owned by a particular family before they are allowed to purchase another one.

The Chief Minister assured that he would consider the feasibility of fitting vehicles with GPRS chips so as to check vehicle theft.

To a second query raised by Ranjit, CAF&PD Minister Karam Shyam said that 61,547,19750 quintals of wheat were brought to the State between March and December last year.

Wheat allotted to the State Government by the Central Government is given to transporters cum stockists and the same wheat is distributed to the public through four retail outlets.

Wheat is not given to AAY, BPL and NFSA card holders but people who need wheat can buy it from the retail outlets, Shyam added.

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