Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh is all set to receive the modern Helicopter ACH 160 from the France-based Airbus Helicopter company in November.
However, the hunt of the aviation department to search for a suitable piece of land near CM House and Mantralaya for the construction of a helipad is still on.
It has been searching for land for helipad construction for around two years.
The state government has decided to have a helipad near CM House and Mantralaya so that CM can use the helicopter to navigate between both places as this will prevent public inconvenience caused due to traffic jams during CM convoy movement on the route from CM House to Mantralaya.
An aviation department official said many sites were surveyed for the construction of a helipad near CM House and Mantralaya but none of them were found fit.
Until the land for helipad construction is found near CM House and Mantralaya, the helicopter will be parked at the state hangar situated at Raja Bhoj Airport.
Meanwhile, two pilots Adarsh Rai and Sanjay Shrivastava will leave for France on August 22 for training to learn the techniques needed to fly modern ACH 160 helicopter. After completing the training, they will bring the modern chopper to the state.
The cost of the ACH 160 chopper is approximately Rs 1,200 crore. Currently, the state has one chopper, EC 155 B1, which is 15 years old. The average useful life of any chopper is 20 years.
The aviation department has floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the selection of an agency for induction and on-site technical acceptance of the ACH 160 helicopter.
“The selected agency will have to facilitate document-related works and get necessary permissions from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and concerned authorities.
It will also assist in checking in flight systems and performance checks. It will also check the manufacturer’s first flight remark and go through every details of the chopper,” said sources in the aviation department.
