Fly over traffic

Fly over traffic
Vijay Times

A high-end solution to ground level jam is on offer in Bangalore where neither flyovers nor grade separators or underpasses have made travel within the city any smoother.

The solution, you guessed it right, is literally to fly over the problem, from your apartment to another and hopefully to work place too.

With several Bangaloreans zipping into the super rich band and ready to loosen purse strings for better facilities, a number of realtors see the rooftops of the apartments and commercial complexes they are constructing as money spinners, not just as place to build water tanks.

Result is rooftop helipads, making it easier for the residents who can afford to fly to and fro the airport as well as other apartments and commercial complexes with similar facility.

Townships coming up at Malleswaram and Whitefield and commercial propertycum-service apartment facility in the heart of the city all boast of rooftop helipads.

Golden Gate Property Limited, which is developing the 20-acre Golden Grand township spread over Malleswaram, Rajajinagar and Sadashivnagar will sport a rooftop helipad.

" Bangalore has now become a hub of well-heeled travelers and globally exposed citizens who are on the lookout for ultra luxurious living and demand the best. The roof-top helipad is aimed at providing them word-class facilities," Golden Gate Property Limited, managing director K Pratap told VViijja ay y TTiim mees s. The 13-acre UB City on Vittal Mallya Road, considered to be the biggest commercial property in the city with two towers, one of 19 floors and the other of 17 floors, is another complex with a rooftop helipad. The complex, nearing completion, boasts of high-end commercial, retail and service apartment space.

The Brigade Metropolis enclave in Whitefield will also have a rooftop helipad.

The developers of these properties say the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has permitted them to offer rooftop helipad facility. Apart from such permission being mandatory, DGCA stipulates that only twin engine choppers are allowed to land on and takeoff from rooftop helipads.

Aviation experts say rooftop helipads are safe for twin engine choppers. " The rate of accidents involving twin engine choppers is very less and is considered safe for a city like Bangalore," says Wg Cdr AE Patrawala, Chairman, Aeronautical Society of India." A twin engine chopper costs a minimum of Rs 35 lakh. A high-end one as much as Rupees 1.2 cr. A litre of choppers fuel costs surprisingly, just Rs 30, a few rupees less than what you pay for your two or four wheelers . A chopper, ofcourse needs a minimum of 80 to 100 litres to operate.