Riddled with potholed roads, Bengaluru plans to have eight helipads for air ambulances

If everything goes as planned, the IT capital of India could soon get eight helipads for air ambulances. These helipads can be used by patients and their families to fly out in case of emergency.

The idea is a brainchild of the mayor of Bengaluru Sampath Raj and he expects to put forward a proposal in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) soon.

The plan is to make helipads in the eight zones of the city corporation.

“These helipads will be helpful for the citizens. So much of precious time is lost when ambulances are stuck in traffic. We will look at providing such services at nominal prices,” a report in India Today quoted Raj.

He further said that he reckons people would not mind paying a few thousand to save lives of their dearest by flying quickly when they are spending lakhs in hospital on treatment.

The helipads are planned to be named after former mayors of the city, the report said. Though much depends on the approval of the proposal from the BBMP council. The mayor said that if the general public and their representatives do not agree to the plan, he is ready to scrap the idea.

Despite all this, the question remains that how will the corporation, which fails to fill the potholes of city roads, be able to manage eight helipads? Raj said that helipads are a different ballgame. “We appreciate the criticism, but we are working on potholes too. The roads will be done, but helipads are a different ball game and will help the fast-growing city of Bengaluru to be able to handle traffic problems better.”

Last month, to draw attention towards the potholes and waterlogging in the city a street artist, Baadal Nanjundaswamy had transformed a water pool on the road into a mermaid’s pool with a live model Sonu Gowda posing as sea mermaid.

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