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Helipad close to Fort St. George likely

By Our Special Correspondent

Chennai Aug. 21. A helipad may soon come up on the sprawling parking lot opposite Fort St. George here, seat of power in Tamil Nadu.

A State Government-owned helicopter, normally used by the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, for her district trips, made a trial sortie and landed this morning at the parking lot.

Police officials in-charge of the Chief Minister's security and the Additional Secretary, Nanda Kishore, were aboard the chopper to check whether the well-laid out tar stretch could be converted into a permanent helipad. The team also made a sortie to the already-existing helipad on the Anna University campus.

As of now, the nearest helipad from Fort St.George is the Coast Guard tarmac at INS Adyar, near the Chennai port, half-a-km away from the Secretariat complex.

Police sources say a helipad on the open parking lot, across the road, opposite to the Secretariat, may not be the most ideal proposition from the security viewpoint.

However, it is seen as most suitable because of its proximity to Fort St.George — they just have to cross the Rajaji Salai to hop into a chopper.

Till a couple of years ago, the parking lot and an adjoining lawn, maintained by the Public Works Department, was only part of the Sathya Nagar slum colony. Slum dwellers were shifted to Okkiam Thoraipakkam during the previous DMK regime, and after the AIADMK returned to power, the mud stretch was levelled and tarred at a cost of Rs. 19 lakhs to make space for parking vehicles of Secretariat staff and visitors.

Those in charge of the Chief Minister's security have now taken up the feasibility of utilising this space for a helipad as well.

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