In a first of its kind in India, CM of a state is going to have a helipad over his office. The CM in question is none other than Chandrababu Naidu, CM of truncated state of AP which is surviving on a deficit budget after it lost Hyderabad to Telangana. At the cost of public exchequer, Chandrababu will get a roof-top helipad at the proposed interim secretariat complex at Velagapudi village in the forthcoming capital city of Amaravati.
This is the first time that a chief minister in India is getting a helipad right above his office chambers. Also Naidu will be one of the few VIPs in the country to have a roof-top helipad at the workplace or residence. What's more? The CMO at the temporary secretariat is being planned in such a way that Naidu can simply get out of the helicopter and walk into his chambers. The helipad will be linked to the chief minister's chambers through a lift. Officials said the roof-top helipad will help Mr Naidu to heli-hop from his office to the Gannavaram airport, which is about 50 km away, without any disruption to the heavy traffic in Vijayawada city.
As per reports, the interim secretariat complex will be having six buildings in all and one of the blocks will be used exclusively for the CMO which also accommodates roof-top helipad spread over 2000 sq ft. Two construction companies, Shapoorji Pallonji and Larsen and Toubro (L&T), were handed over the building plan which also includes the helipad design. However, the task of building the helipad will be taken up by Shapoorji Pallonji. And the government is not paying any extra money to the firm for creating the helipad and related facilities that are estimated to cost about Rs 1 crore. And the whole cost of building the temporary secretariat is estimated at whopping Rs 200 Crore. The temporary secretariat complex will accommodate around 6,500 employees. The complex will also have space for state assembly and legislative council.
Although Naidu had planned to heli-hop from his residence in Jubilee Hills to the secretariat, six km away during his last stint as the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, it didn't materialise due to flak from various corners. In fact, a helipad was developed at Dr Marri Chenna Reddy Human Resources Development (MCHRD) Institute near his residence. But, the idea of developing a helipad in the secretariat was dropped. Let's see whether Naidu will make it this time or not?