Wasteland To Save Lives: BBMP Identifies Five Landfills In Bengaluru To Construct Helipads For Air Ambulances

The city civic body of Bengaluru, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has identified five landfills in the outskirts to construct helipads in a bid to airlift patients who requires immediate medical attention, reports Deccan Herald.

Reports suggest that BBMP would hold discussions with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL) and other government authorities over the technical feasibility of setting up the helipads.

Preparing Helipads for Air ambulances as well as enabling easy movement for VIPs was earlier proposed by Former Mayor of the city S Sampath Raj to bypass the traffic congestion during peak hours in the city.

BBMP has reportedly identified Bagalur, Bellahalli, Bingipura, Mallasandra near Dasarahalli and old landfill near Indian Institute of Management for the initiative. The civic body is said to be seeking public-private participation for the proposed helipads. It has also set-aside Rs 5 crore from the budget for the initial phase of the project.

“Setting up helipads on reclaimed land. As the city does not have any open spaces left we have to construct on landfills which we are soil-capping, packing the quarries with soil and rock,” Sarfaraz Khan, joint commissioner, health and solid waste management was quoted as saying by DH.