It was once meant to dispatch dissidents, the sheer drop ensuring that no evidence remained. Subsequently, the British turned the entire place into a summer getaway, and the edge o the precipice was a favorite for colonial types with nothing else to do but shoot the breeze and contemplate the void.

These days Tipu’s Drop in Nandi Hills might be serving a very different, and far more sinister, purpose. Top police officials fear that terrorists could use the spot, with its rarefied air and panoramic view, to do a reccy of the BIAL airport at Devanhalli. Worse, in a nightmare scenario, it could even be a launching pad for a RPG or bazooka attack on low-flying aircraft or airport installations. Just sixty kms from Bangalore, Nandi Hills is about 12-15 kilometers from the new airport.

IDEAL RECCY SPOT

Chikkaballapur Deputy Superintendent of Police(DySP), K Nanaiah conceded that the hill could be an ideal platform for a terrorist outfit to study air traffic and various other activities in the airport. “The issue will be discussed with senior police officers before the international airport starts operating from May 23. A team of experts would be asked to conduct a study and give a comprehensive report about the arrangement to be made by the police to avert a possible terror plot to the BIA from the Nandi Hill summit,” he said.
The report with necessary recommendation would be sent to the government, he added.

UNHINDERED VIEW
On a clear day the entire BIA airport can be seen from Tipu’s Drop, KSTDC hotel and from the Palar Lake side. The two runways, all the terminals, apart from the landing and take off of aircraft can be seen without even the slightest of obstacles. As it’s, even before the airport has started functioning, tourist armed with binoculars and zoon lens gazing towards Devanhalli is a common sight.

NO POLICE PRESENCE

Currently, only three policemen are deputed at the Nandi Hills outpost and that too as a different to anybody bent on sucide! However, ShivaKumar, Inspectors, Chikkaballapur police station under whose jurisdiction Nandi Hills falls, isn’t a worried man. He explains that no visitors will be allowed at the place after 6 pm except for valid passholders or VVIPs. He also points out that with just a few rooms on top, there wont be any hideouts for terrorists. And all the villages are situated at the foothills. “But Yes,” he aggress, “terrorists can always figure out a plan to use the place for studying the airport. Constatn monitoring on the part of the police is the need of hour.”

REMEDIAL MEASURES
• Round the clock patrolling
• Watch towers to check for suspects
• Full fledged plice station
• Ban on photography from the side facing BIAL
• Setting a time limit for tourists to watch the landing and take off aircraft.
• To plant trees to block visibility

Source: Bangalore mirror