Govt yet to clear dues,aviation firms refuse choppers,Badals grounded

Challenger Aviation,the company through which the state government had been hiring choppers,has written to the Punjab government urging it to release the money immediately as it had hired choppers on behalf of the state government from Global Vetra and India Fly Safe Aviation,both of whom have written to Challenger demanding the money. The government has to also make payments to Span Air,Air Charter Services and DLF Aviation for using their choppers.

As per the understanding between the government and the operators,once the chopper is hired and used,payments have to be made within 15 days from the date the chopper has been used. Sources,however,say that the government has not made any payments for more than six months.

An official on condition of anonymity said: “ If the payment to these operators are not made in a few days we expect them to send us legal notices as they have already refused to give on hire their choppers and planes and indicated about sending notices. The government spends around Rs 15 crore every year on hiring choppers”. It has now been learnt that on Tuesday,the government cleared bills worth Rs 3 crore after Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal intervened.

The state government started hiring choppers on a need basis from private operators after a seven seater Dauphin N3 helicopter on lease with the government from Pawan Hans for Rs 15 crore per year crashed at Chandigarh Airport in 2010. The government’s only eight seater aircraft also crashed on October 29,2008 near Ludhiana killing both the pilot and co-pilot and leaving it without a flying machine.

Two years ago,the civil aviation department had mooted a proposal to buy a helicopter for VVIP’s in the state and shortlisted three helicopter models; Dauphin N3,a seven seater copter,the six seater Eurocopter 145 – both are French – and the seven seater Eurocopter AB 139,which is Italian made.