The chopper carrying President Droupadi Murmu, who was on her way to the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, got stuck at the helipad after landing at Pramadam in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala on Wednesday morning.

Murmu, on her maiden visit to the Sabarimala shrine, had alighted from the chopper by then. Police and fire officials had to pull the chopper out after its wheels sank into the freshly laid concrete.

The initial plan was that the IAF Mi-17 chopper carrying the President would land at Nilakkal, but because of overnight rain the itinerary was tweaked at the last minute. Authorities constructed a helipad at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Pramadam in the early hours of Wednesday. The concrete had not properly dried, and the President landed at 9.05am ahead
of schedule.

Later, Murmu proceeded to Pamba by road.

In the evening, senior officials, including Kerala police chief Ravada Chandrasekhar, Pathanamthitta district collector S. Prem Krishnan and the local MLA representing the Konni Assembly constituency, K.U. Jenish Kumar, claimed that the chopper did not land on the earmarked “H” spot. Chandrasekhar claimed there was no security breach.

“The chopper landed 5ft away from where arrangements had been made for the landing. The chopper got stuck in the freshly laid concrete of the helipad, which had been constructed at the last minute,” Chandrasekhar said.

Clad in a black sari with zari border, Murmu took the pathinettampadi (18 stairs) to the Sabarimala shrine with the mandatory irumudikettu (two pouch knots carried by pilgrims) tied on her head. She was helped by a bodyguard.

Murmu was taken in a special vehicle under police protection to the Sabarimala shrine. She kept her irumudikettu in front of the sanctum sanctorum and prayed for a few minutes. She is the first woman President to visit the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala. The shrine was out of bounds for pilgrims until the President left.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed relief that Murmu narrowly escaped an accident during her visit to Kerala. “Thank God that our President Droupadi Murmu ji could avert a major accident today morning during her visit to Kerala. Pray for her long and healthy life,” Mamata posted on X.