Andhra seeks copter lift

Hyderabad: The Andhra government has requested the Centre for troop-carrier helicopters to be stationed in the state for use in anti-Maoist operations along the borders with Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Chief minister K. Rosaiah has written two letters to P. Chidambaram and personally spoken to the home minister but such choppers have not yet been sent to the state — considered a model in tackling the Maoist threat.
“We need it to move troops, especially our Greyhounds (the elite anti-rebel squad) faster to the border areas so we can stop the rebels’ infiltration and stall their hit-and-run operations,” state police chief R.R. Girish Kumar said.
Making its case for such helicopters — now requisitioned from the neighbouring rebel-affected states whenever the need arises — the K. Rosaiah-headed Congress government has pointed out that the guerrillas have laid landmines along the borders with Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Maharashtra to stall the Greyhounds.
Requests for such helicopters have been made not only by the Andhra government but also other states and the CRPF. It is precisely because the need to deploy more Mi-17s is accepted by the defence establishment that the air force has asked for its helicopters on UN peace duties in Congo and Sudan to be sent back. There are currently 17 IAF helicopters on UN duties, among them eight gunships and nine Mi-17s.
09/07/10 G.S. Radhakrishna/The Telegraph

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2010