President’s helicopter wheels sinkinto newly-concreted landing pad

 

 

THE wheels of the helicopter carrying President Droupadi Murmu for her Sabarimala visit got stuck in a depression on the newlyconcreted helipad at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Pramadam when it landed on Wednesday morning. After the President left for Pamba by road, visuals on TV channels showed several policemen and fire personnel pushing the helicopter’s wheels out of the small depressions created when it landed on the concrete.

 

Following the incident, former Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan termed it a “security lapse” and demanded action against those responsible. He also claimed that it showed the Kerala Government’s “carelessness” in handling the President’s security. Muraleedharan contended that the issue cannot be trivialised and sought an investigation into the alleged security lapse. He said that no untoward incident happened due to the grace of Lord Ayyappa. Earlier, a senior police officer from the district said the stadium was fixed as the helicopter landing location at the last moment, and therefore, the helipad was created there late on Tuesday.

 

The landing was originally planned at Nilackal near Pamba, but was changed to Pramadam due to inclement weather. “The concrete had not set completely, and therefore it could not handle the helicopter’s weight when it landed, causing depressions where the wheels touched the ground,” the officer said. The President, who arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday evening for a four-day official visit to the State, left for Pathanamthitta district, where the hill shrine is located, on Wednesday morning. From Pramadam, Murmu travelled to Pamba, the foothills of Sabarimala, by road.