Rooftop helipad may help ease traffic bottlenecks

Rooftop helipad may help ease traffic bottlenecks
Deccan Herald

Traffic bottlenecks are an everyday occurrence in Bangalore especially during a VVIP’s visit. This, when the State government is sitting on a proposal to construct an elevated helipad (rooftop helipad) for over three years now.

The Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation Limited (KSPHCL) had proposed to construct a rooftop helipad on 2.9 acres of land owned by the KSPHCL. The KSPHCL would construct the rooftop helipad after demolishing the existing old building on Broadway Road in Shivajinagar.

They added that the estimated cost of the project was around Rs 40 crore. However, with the rise in cost of construction materials, the cost has escalated to over Rs 60 crore.

“It will be on a safe location, because we don’t expect a taller building to come up in the area. This will allow us to have a 360-degree flight path approach to the helipad,” a source said. Presently, the helipad is designed to handle the government-owned twin-engine equipped helicopters. “It takes a tremendous amount of reserve power to safely land an aircraft on a rooftop helipad and that mandates a twin-engine aircraft,” the sources said.

“We will have to evaluate whether a single-engine aircraft would be able to safely land on a rooftop helipad,” the sources added.

Another major advantage will be the location of the helipad — close to the Vidhana Soudha and Raj Bhavan, which should decrease response time on an average of about 10 to 15 minutes. According to Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) sources, the construction of the new helipad will be a test of engineering skill.

Minister for Major Industries and Infrastructure P G R Sindhia told Deccan Herald that the government was looking into its feasibility.