SHILLONG: A State Cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on February 5 this year had extended the services of Pawan Hans helicopter for another six months, but the whopping amount of around Rs 3.64 crore spent for the chief minister alone from April 2010 till May 2015 for his chopper rides, has broken all records, even bypassing the amount of Rs 2.8 crore spent by Raj Bhavan on former Meghalaya Governor R.S. Mooshahary during his five year tenure in Meghalaya.
In a sequel to Mooshahary’s 445 chopper trips during his tenure from 2008 costing Raj Bhavan Rs 2,08,42,665, the chief minister’s office bore the expenditure of Rs 3,63,99,380 for carrying out 354 sorties in the last five years since 2010, documents accessed by The Shillong Times reveal.
Interestingly, the money collected from the chief minister’s air travels is considerably more than the total amount of Rs 3,40,17,060 generated from air passengers who availed chopper services for 11 years (from November 2004 till March 2015).
The State government has only one chopper and the same is used by VIPs and passengers alike, but on most occasions the latter have to give way for the former whenever there is an emergency.
While 75% of the expenditure in operating the helicopter in the State is borne by the Centre, the remaining 25% is paid by the State government.
However, the Centre is yet to release over Rs 68 crore (Rs 68,47,36,316) to the State government for as many as 16 sanctioned bills from 2004 till 2012. The Centre has released Rs 54,31,86,759 as its share from 1999 till 2012.
The State government has already spent a whopping amount of Rs 23.21 crore (Rs 23,21,23,702) for operating the helicopter service.
For the chief minister and a few VIPs, the helicopter sorties are ‘official’ since they use this fastest means of transport for attending functions as they do not prefer to travel by road which, however, is cheaper.
As per the official data, just for one year – from April 2014 to May 2015 – the expenditure incurred by the chief minister’s office was over Rs 1 crore (Rs 1,26,00001).
During this period, the routes used by the chief minister for the chopper ride ranged from Shillong to Guwahati and vice versa and from Guwahati and Shillong to Nongstoin, Tura, Williamnagar, Resubelpara, Bajengdoba, Tikrikilla, Gorojagiri, Chibonga, Phulbari, Chokpot and others.
On three occasions, the chief minister used the chopper for trips to Umiam, while he used the helicopter seven times between April 2014 and May 2015 to travel to his home constituency of Ampati.
After the chopper crash of September 22, 2004 which claimed the lives of all ten persons on board including a minister and two legislators of the State, the helicopter service was suspended four times for short periods for maintenance and servicing.
The chopper service was suspended for more than a year from May 11, 2011 after a crash at Arunachal Pradesh on April 30, 2011 which claimed the life of Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu.
While the helicopter used during the chopper crash in 2004 was the twin engine Dauphin Helicopter, after the resumption of service in July 2012, Dauphin SN Helicopter (twin engine) is being used.
On an average at least 300 air passengers avail the helicopter service every month.
As per data, from November 2004 till March 2015, the money generated from the passengers was over Rs 3 crore (Rs 3,40,17060).
The rate with effect from July 27, 2012 on the Guwahati-Shillong route is Rs 1500 for adults, Rs 1000 for children between 2 to 12 years and Rs 500 for infants below two years.
The rate for the Guwahati-Tura route is Rs 1700 for adults, Rs 1300 for children and Rs 600 for infants.
For Shillong-Tura via Guwahati and vice versa, the rate is Rs 1900 for adults, Rs 1500 for children and Rs 700 for infants. Excess baggage is charged at Rs 300 per kg. The hiring charge for the helicopter is Rs 1,40,000 per hour.