Prayagraj: The UP govt has approved the construction of 16 permanent helipads across tehsil and block headquarters in Prayagraj district to strengthen emergency medical response, disaster management, security operations and VVIP movement.The process of land identification has begun, and reports sought from sub-divisional magistrates and tehsildars. Construction work will start immediately after the land is finalised.
The project will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 4.80 crore. Each helipad will be constructed at a cost of Rs 30 lakh, including Rs 20 lakh for helipad and Rs 10 lakh for the boundary wall. To oversee the project, the state govt has constituted a 4-member special committee headed by district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma. Officials said the plan aims to eliminate repeated expenditure on temporary helipads during VVIP visits and improve the district’s emergency response capacity. As per the proposal, only 1 helipad will be constructed at locations where tehsil and block headquarters are situated in the same place. Accordingly, single helipads will be built at Karchhana, Meja, Koraon, Soraon, Phulpur and Handia tehsil headquarters. Separate helipads will be constructed at Bara tehsil and Shankargarh. In addition, helipads will come up at Chaka and Manda block headquarters. Mauaima, Bahadurpur, Kaurihar, and Bhagwatpur block headquarters will also get 1 helipad each. The Prayagraj plan is part of a larger statewide initiative to enhance disaster preparedness and administrative reach. Across Uttar Pradesh, 74 out of 351 tehsil headquarters already have permanent helipads while proposals are at different stages for the remaining 277 tehsils. Similarly, out of 826 block headquarters, only 60 have temporary helipads, and permanent helipads are planned at the remaining 766 locations.
