HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will get a roof-top helipad at the proposed secretariat complex at Velagapudi village in the upcoming capital city Amaravati. This is the first time an Indian CM will have a helipad above his office chambers.
The office at the temporary secretariat is being planned in a way that Naidu can simply get out of the copter and walk into his chambers. Officials said the roof-top helipad will help him reach the airport at Gannavaram, about 50 km away, without any disruption to the heavy traffic in Vijayawada.
AP Capital Region Development Authority commissioner N Srikanth said, “We are finalising the plan for the chief minister's office including the helipad.” There will be six buildings in all. A block of them will be used exclusively for the chief minister's office. Above it the helipad will be spread over 2,000 sq ft and the area will be expanded if required. The construction of the landing site is estimated to cost at about £100,000, and the government will not pay extra money to the firm for creating the helipad and related facilities. It will be linked to the chief minister's chambers through a lift. “Necessary permissions will be obtained in due course,” said officials.
Naidu during his last stint as the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh had planned to heli-hop from his residence in Jubilee Hills to the secretariat, six km away.
