Uttarakhand will start India’s first helicopter emergency medical service.
Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that India’s first Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) would be launched from Uttarakhand.
At the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rishikesh, a helicopter will be deployed from where it can be sent anywhere within a 150 km radius to transport people to hospitals.
Under the project ‘Sanjeevani’, the HEMS service would be operated.
The development came a day after the recently inauguration of the newly constructed terminal building (Phase-2) at Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun, by Scindia.
Built at a cost of ₹486 crore, the terminal will be able to serve 3,240 passengers during peak hours and 4.7 million passengers annually.
In December, the Uttarakhand Helipad and Heliport Policy 2023 was approved by the Uttarakhand Cabinet to address challenges in access to remote areas in the hilly regions of the state.
The policy was proposed by the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA), the nodal body for the development of civil aviation infrastructure and ecosystems in the state.
