The city’s traffic problem, which is spiralling out of control, appears to be pushing the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to look to the skies for solutions. After announcing an ambitious pod taxi project, the civic body is now turning to helicopters.
On Saturday, Mayor R. Sampath Raj announced a proposal to create one helipad in each of the eight BBMP zones. His reasoning is that the amount of time taken by citizens to travel between two ends of the city, especially in cases of medical emergencies, is too long.
The move has drawn flak from citizens, who would rather the civic body look at more pressing issues such as potholes and waste management.
However, the Mayor defended the move thus: “If a patient has to reach a hospital in Electronics City from, say, Yelahanka, it is going to take him or her a lot of time. Similarly, if someone gets down at the international airport and has to travel to the other end, by air it will take 15 minutes. There are plenty of air ambulances and private helicopters available and they are no longer very expensive. If we provide helipads in each of the zones, people will be able to use them,” said Mr. Raj, maintaining that the use of helipads will be “multi-purpose”. The plan is to name the helipads after former Mayors of the city, whom Mr. Raj met on Saturday.
The Mayor is confident that the BBMP will be able to fund the project. “I want to complete this during my term. These will not take too much space. We will erect towers with elevators and staircase on BBMP-owned land. It is not going to be too expensive,” he said, adding that it was too early to predict the cost. He cited the helicopter rides offered during the Mysuru Dasara celebrations as an example.
Air clearance is going to be the other big challenge. But Mr. Raj, who admitted that most private helipads that have been erected do not have clearance, is undeterred. “We will start talks with the Director General of Civil Aviation soon. We are confident of getting clearance. VIPs fly between districts often from the city,” he said.
What experts say
R.K. Misra, public policy expert, said: “Any infrastructure which can help, especially in medical emergencies, is welcome. But the question is implementation. It would be faster for people to reach the nearest hospital than the nearest helipad. There are already over 50 helipads in the city. Why not make them operational?”
Meanwhile, D.S. Rajashekhar, president, Citizens’ Action Forum, said: “They are looking at too many things that are not the need of the hour. There are more critical problems. If public transport and mobility is improved, ambulances can travel easily. The BBMP should shelve the idea.”
