President's office turns down Himachal helipad request

Shimla: The office of the president of India has refused to grant permission to the Himachal Pradesh government to allow it to use a VVIP helipad for tourism, some 15 km uphill from here.
Said state Secretary for Tourism Avay Shukla: "The president's house has turned down our request for using this helipad and now we will have to explore other options as there is no wide space in the mountainous terrain to build a helipad."
The president and the prime minister use the helipad once or twice a year on their visits to their summerhouse called Retreat - a colonial bungalow in the nearby woodlands at Charabra. The state government had pleaded that it be allowed to use the facility as it remains unused for most of the year and could help in tourism promotion in interior Shimla and Kinnaur districts.
12/10/06 IANS/Telugu Portal

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