Chopper Row: No Damage Done To Chilika, Says Minister

Bhubaneswar: Amid the ‘chopper hovering’ allegation against former Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda, Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray on Tuesday said that it had not damaged the biodiversity of Chilika Lake.

Stating that only the local fishermen were terrified due to the flying of the chopper, he said a complaint has been lodged on whatever incident had taken place and action would be taken in accordance with the law.

Meanwhile, the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) clarified that it had not imposed any restriction on flying over the lake. In a statement, chief executive officer (CDA) Sushant Nanda said the Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) can only say if there was any restriction.

Replying to a question on the visit of the Chief Minister to Balugan last year in a helicopter that had flown over the lake, Nanda denied any information on it since he had not assumed charge as CDA secretary. “Now that I have been apprised of the matter, there would be an investigation,” he pointed out.

Asked about the matter, director of the Biju Patnaik International Airport Suresh Chandra Hota said the helicopter had left the airport at 8.46 am on September 15. According to the flight plan, the chopper had gone to Bhubaneswar, Rajhans, Puri, Konark, Gorakhpur and Jagannathpur and returned to the airport at 1.26 pm the same day. The chopper had flown at a height of 500 feet above the ground level.

He said the police had come to know the flight details of the chopper following the allegation about a plane flying over the lake. “They requested us for the flight details but since the chopper does not have radar coverage, we could not provide the same. Later, they asked us to seize the chopper to collect the detailed data from its black box. As police are the law enforcement authority, we agreed and later they sealed the hangar,” Hota informed.

He further said that since the chopper was flying at a low level, it could be tracked up to a distance of 15-20 miles from the airport.

“We have informed the DGCA about the matter. It will ask the chopper manufacturing company to provide the flight data. But it will take some time,” he pointed out.