Chandigarh: Purchased for about Rs 80 crore, the Haryana government on Mondayinducted a twin-engine nine-seater helicopter for the air transport services to chief minister Nayab Saini, governor Bandaru Dattatreya and other VIPs.
The Germany-based Airbus-made chopper which replaces the old one because of safety issues, has advanced features and state-of-the-art functioning, disaster management and medical emergency responses, besides other improved features.
Prior to making his maiden flight in the new chopper after the ceremonial rituals and “pooja’’, Saini told the media that since there were several safety issues with the old helicopter which was quite old and outdated, the government had been recommending acquiring a new helicopter. He said that the new helicopter had arrived now and the “pooja’’ ceremony, done for its induction.
State civil aviation minister Vipul Goel also said that since the government had been recommending the purchase of a new helicopter because of the safety issues, an order was placed a few months ago and it had now arrived here.
According to information, the proposal to buy a new chopper had been approved during the tenure of former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and it was sanctioned by the high-level purchase committee about two years ago following which negotiations were finalised with the said German company for the purchase of this chopper.
For record, the state also has a 10-seater Beechcraft King Air 250 aircraft which was purchased for about Rs 42 crore in 2018. This airplane was purchased after the then state’s 10-seater plane had crashed at Chandigarh airport in 2014 while the then Haryana governor Jagannath Pahadia and nine others including two crew members had a narrow escape after the aircraft aborted the take-off after its control system got jammed.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda flayed the state government’s move to buy the chopper citing the swelling Haryana’s swelling debt which he held, had reached to over Rs 4.51 lakh crore.
