# MP aviation department asks Bhopal collector to find helipad sites 2026-08-20T04:40:48+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Madhya Pradesh aviation department has asked Bhopal district administration to identify land for two helipads after failing to find suitable sites on its own. Additional chief secretary Sanjay Shukla has asked collector Priyank Mishra to help locate parcels near Pandit Khusilal Ayurvedic Hospital and the Indian Institute of Forest Management. The helipads are planned near the Chief Minister's House and the Mantralaya to ease traffic restrictions during the CM's cavalcade. Earlier attempts to build a rooftop helipad at Satpura Bhawan were rejected by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The state is also expecting delivery of a new Airbus helicopter in the coming months. Collector Mishra told Free Press that revenue officers are surveying land and hope to identify suitable sites soon. Previous options such as land between Mantralaya and Vallabh Bhawan were ruled out due to heavy tree cover. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Madhya Pradesh's plan for two helipads near the Chief Minister's residence and the secretariat dates back years, but has repeatedly hit roadblocks from tree cover, land availability, and regulatory hurdles. The earlier attempt for a rooftop helipad at Satpura Bhawan was rejected by the DGCA, likely on safety grounds given building height and approach path constraints. For a state already spending on a new Airbus helicopter, finding a suitable landing site near the seat of power is essential to avoid traffic disruptions during the CM's movement, Bhopal roads already see frequent diversions for VVIP convoys. The real constraint is land: both proposed areas are either forested or built-up, and acquiring government land in a capital city for a single-use facility is politically and administratively slow. The next milestone to watch is whether the collector identifies a site before the Airbus delivery in the coming months. ## Coverage - freepressjournal.in Led with the administrative process, included a direct quote from the collector, and framed the helipads as a traffic-easing measure rather than as a political or controversial story. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bhopal, DGCA, Madhya Pradesh, Priyank Mishra, Sanjay Shukla, Satpura Bhawan Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/mp-aviation-department-asks-bhopal-collector-to-find-helipad-sites/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/mp-aviation-department-asks-bhopal-collector-to-find-helipad-sites/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/