With the 2010 Commonwealth Games fast approaching, hectic activities are on to construct India’s first fully-automated heliport in West Delhi and a temporary ‘environment-friendly’ facility near Yamuna bed.
The national capital is also likely to have one helipad in each of its nine districts, with the city government allocating Rs 1 crore for the purpose.
“The Delhi government has already allocated Rs 1 crore for one helipad in every district and many state governments are also earmarking funds for creation of helipads,” state-run Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL) Chairman R K Tyagi said in an interview here.
To meet the demands of the Commonwealth Games, a fully-automated heliport would be constructed in the Rohini area of West Delhi, which would act as a hub for chopper operations during the mega event, he said.
Another transit facility would come up near the DND Flyover near the river Yamuna. It would be a removable steel and glass structure keeping in mind the environmental concerns, Tyagi said, adding the structures were capable of being dismantled if the need was felt after the Games.
“We are in touch with the environmentalists because the Rohini facility alone will not be enough to cater to the Commonwealth Games. We need to create the facility near the DND Flyover.”
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“What the ministry is talking to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is the creation of the first zero-construction and entirely green heliport of the world to be created in Delhi,” Tyagi said.
The proposed facility near the Yamuna bed adjacent to the flyway would be only a landing and take-off facility.
The PHHL chief said a zero-construction heliport means that “we can assure the environmentalists and the administration that they can be dismantled within hours, as there are no permanent structures”.
The facility, being planned near the DND flyway, would act as a transportation hub meant only for take-off and landing, to cater to the Games participants who would stay at the nearby Games Village. It would also act as a Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre.
Though the Delhi government has made it clear that no heliport could be constructed on the Yamuna bed, talks were going on regarding the creation of a temporary steel and glass structure, Tyagi said. A committee — comprising representatives of Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, ONGC and PHHL — set up by the Civil Aviation Ministry, had already granted in-principle approval for these sites, he said.
According to Tyagi, the Rohini heliport in West Delhi is proposed to be located in Sector 37 as a feeder hub where helicopter maintenance facilities and parking are being planned.
About 25 acre plot had been earmarked for the purpose and DDA’s Technical Committee had proposed changes in the land use of the site for heliport operations, he said.
Besides maintenance and parking facilities, the heliport would also have an arrival-departure terminal, runway and hangars.
Regarding future plans in and around Delhi, Tyagi said, “We are also talking with the Noida authority to have another heliport there.”
“We are also looking at a minimum of two or three heliports in Delhi, apart from one each in the satellite towns of Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon. We are talking to the state governments to allot land,” he added.