Haryana looks to beat traffic jams with chopper service for bizmen, hospitals

Delays in investor meetings, industrial visits and medical emergencies due to traffic jams could become a thing of the past as the Haryana government looks to launch chopper services in the state.

Delays in investor meetings, industrial visits and medical emergencies due to traffic jams could become a thing of the past as the Haryana government looks to launch chopper services in the state.

In this file photo, a chopper -- en route to Kedarnath shrine -- can be seen at a helipad near Phata in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district. (Neha Pant/HT)

Government officials on Monday met aviation service providers in Gurgaon for a brainstorming session on the feasibility of a chopper service to industrial model townships located in the National Capital Region.

“This is a positive step and will help in easy commute for foreign investors,” said Manmohan Gaind, vice-president, Manesar Industries Welfare Association. “But the government has to focus on basic issues like resolving congestion on highways, ensuring fast movement of goods and reducing red tape.”

Haryana is home to a number of key industrial areas, including Gurgaon, Manesar, Dharuhera (Rewari), Bawal (Rewari) and Kundli (Sonepat), all on busy national highways that witness heavy congestion and long traffic jams, particularly during peak hours.

Apart from making the commute easier for investors and industrialists, the state also hopes to tap into the growing popularity of medical tourism in the country. In the absence of a chopper service, medical facilities are forced to rely on green corridors — special lanes created by diverting or blocking traffic to allow swift transfer of organs or patients.

Officials of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), the state’s industry development body, met representatives of private aviation companies to determine the financial and technical aspects of launching a chopper service in the state.

Those present at the meeting said it was a “pre-bid” interaction. “We want to know whether industry, medical tourism and organ transplantation can be served by launching a chopper service in the state. We will send the recommendations to the government based on the feedback we got in the meeting,” HSIIDC DGM Priya Sardana told HT.

The seeds for this plan were planted during the two-day Happening Haryana Summit in March, when the HSIIDC hired a private operator to offer chopper services to the attendees. Several industrial groups at the summit had reportedly complained of the traffic problem, particularly in NCR towns such as Gurgaon.