Uttarakhand flood: Sting in the chopper's tail

Some people just can’t let go the urge to make a fortune out of people’s misery.

A private charter company, whose choppers the Uttarakhand government had hired to rescue stranded people, was on Tuesday caught demanding Rs3 lakh from a family for airlifting them from Badrinath to the Sahastradhara helibase in Dehradun.

The Delhi-based Sarathi Airways Private Limited is among the 16 private choppers involved in rescue work in the state. The state pays every company Rs75,000 per hour per chopper.

A state official termed the incident “shocking and inhuman”. “Despite charging the state government, the private helicopter company tried to make a fast buck from a stranded family,” he said. “This goes against our agreement. We will lodge a case of cheating against the company.”

Incidentally, Sarathi Airways, caught in a TV channel’s sting operation, is the BJP’s preferred carrier across the country. The company’s chairman, Captain Gulab Singh Tanwar, is said to be close to BJP president Rajnath Singh. Sources say there are instructions from Singh’s office asking all party office-bearers to use Sarathi Airways.

In a letter to chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said private helicopter operators cannot charge victims. “I would request you to kindly take strict action against the company and also issue necessary instructions for monitoring of activities of other helicopter operators so that such corrupt practices may be contained,” he wrote.

Allegations have been doing the rounds that private choppers are charging a hefty sum for ferrying stranded people to safer grounds. Unconfirmed reports say a private chopper charged a family from Maharashtra almost Rs20 lakh to ferry their 30 members.

The civil aviation ministry has ordered an inquiry and Sarathi’s licence will be cancelled if any wrongdoing is proved.