Reddy: High flier

Hyderabad, June 27: Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy will, perhaps, be the first chief minister to fly to work in a helicopter.

An empty plot next to the secretariat has been converted into a helipad ? a concrete platform has been set up at a cost of Rs 1 crore and permanent ground crew services are in place for contingency.

The chief minister, while returning from tours of the districts, can now land at the secretariat instead of making a detour from the airport. He can also use the chopper to travel from home.

In what is being described as a brave move by a state, which has a public debt of over Rs 57,000 crore on its head, Reddy has succeeded where his predecessor N. Chandrababu Naidu failed.

Naidu had to give up his proposal to build a helipad at the secretariat following a public uproar. However, the eight-seater Bell Canada chopper bought by his Telugu Desam Party government has come in handy for Reddy.

Reddy’s plans to set up the helipad took off when a security alert was sounded by intelligence agencies after the aborted peace talks with Maoists. The chief minister, during his district tours, could not take the risk of travelling at night or even late in the evening by road.

There have been other incidents, too, that have police on their toes. Last month, a man on a scooter hit a car of the chief minister’s convoy. He was arrested and a case of “rash driving” was booked against him.

The helipad has got the general public sighing in relief as well. The chief minister had assured the city’s commuters that he would not put them through any harassment, but it proved to be short-lived. When his cavalcade moves, traffic is blocked for a minimum of 15 minutes.

“Anyway, government money is spent recklessly by politicians. It is good that the chief minister has chosen to fly to work as, at least, he will save wastage of hundreds of litres of fuel by other commuters whenever he comes out of the secretariat,” a resident said.