Gujarat govt helicopter faces glitches once again; CM travels by road to Dhordo

Bhuj: Once again, the government owned helicopter for Gujarat Chief Minister suffered some glitches on Tuesday, following which, the Chief Minister traveled to Dhordo from district headquarters Bhuj in border district Kutch by road.

As per the original schedule, the Chief Minister was to arrive at Dhordo tent city from Bhuj by air through the government helicopter. The helicopter was to take off from Bhuj airport at 4.30 pm. Dhordo based helipad was readied for the arrival of the Chief Minister’s helicopter. However the helicopter suffered some glitches, following which the Chief Minister traveled to Dhordo by road. In the recent past at least on three occasions, the Chief Minister had to drop the air journey, and was compelled to travel by road due to glitches in the helicopter.

It’s worth noting that the helicopter presently used by the Chief Minister is 16 years old. The State government is planning to purchase a new helicopter at an estimated cost of Rs. 150 crore. The Gujarat government has two aircraft and a helicopter. The government owned VT SVP Dauphin Airbus helicopter is 16 years old with multiple maintenance issues. DeshGujarat