Gujarat's Seaplane : A National Game Changer Come To Grief !

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 BY R.K.MISRA

Lakhs of people watching, Prime Minister Narendra Modi literally set the Sabarmati  on fire when he boarded a seaplane from the riverfront in Ahmedabad to end his party’s 2017 Gujarat election campaign in spectacular style. A new dawn of development beckoned. True to promise, the Prime Minister launched the country’s first seaplane service between the Statue of Unity(SAU) ,the world’s tallest statue to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel erected at the Narmada dam site and the Sabarmati riverfront on October 31,2020. The service was stopped on April11, 2021 due to ‘operational’ reasons. Almost two years later the Gujarat government still remains at sea on when the seaplane services will resume. There is many a slip  between  flashy optics and focussed operations. Or so it seems.

The issue came to the fore  during the budget session of the Gujarat Assembly when the government reiterated its intent to restart the seaplane services but remained non-committal on the timeframe. In reply to a question, the government ‘s reply was that the seaplane’s services will resume after completing the procedures prescribed under the rules. The logical question would be, why the hurry in launching the service without doing so? Opposition leaders were categorical that the government had avoided discussion on the subject. “There were no viability or demand studies. A mere flash in the pan was sought to be  served as a full meal at state expense”, said the  Congress spokesperson.

The Gujarat  seaplane experiment is important  because what began as election optics was subsequently fleshed  into a national endeavour for airborne riverine tourism but is floundering in its own state. Is a gamechanger step forward coming to grief because  some crucial factor has been overlooked ?. There is still time to pause, ponder and rectify before it is too late.

 In June 2021, Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Ports and Shipping signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) for the development of seaplane services to enhance seamless connectivity. The MOU envisaged development of Non-Scheduled/Scheduled operations countrywide under the RCS-UDAN(Regional Connectivity Scheme(RCS)- (Udde Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)  of the Centre. One hundred routes  for seaplane services were  etched out and 14 water aerodromes were underway.  Besides the Sardar Sarovar  Dam(SAU)  and the Sabarmati riverfront  ,Shatrunjay dam(Gujarat), , Guwahati riverfront, Umrangso Reservoir(Assam) , Nagarjuna sagar dam(Telangana), Prakasam barrage, (Andhra Pradesh),Swaraj dweep Havelock island and  Shaheed Dweep, Port Blair  (Andaman and Nicobar islands), Minicoy, kavaratti, Agatti (Lakshadweep)  are under various stages of development involving  total outlay of Rs 450 crores. It  is part of the ambitious Sagarmala project which was given in-principle approval by the Modi- led NDA government in 2015.

Seaplanes are not new to India and were in use by royalties  and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) has rules in place for it.   UPA Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel visualized immense potential in this offshoot of tourism and had launched an Andaman and Nicobar based  pilot project, Jal Hans in 2010 under Pawan Hans.

Tourism industry sources  say that commercial viability  is essential for the private sector to put  their money whereas the party in power  ploughs for political profit alone. The fact  that the pioneering seaplane service in Gujarat stutters is largely because of the cart-before- the- horse syndrome that has been the hallmark of present day, unitary decision making.

The Sabarmati to SAU seaplane service was initially given over to SpiceShuttle, a subsidiary of SpiceJet which pulled out  in April 2021 citing operational difficulties in the midst of  the pandemic.

In November 2021, after a change of guard in Gujarat when chief minister Vijay Rupani and his entire cabinet was replaced by Bhupendrabhai Patel, the new state  civil aviation minister Purnesh Modi had urged the Centre to start  services at six places in the state and provide two seaplanes as Gujarat was in no position to do so because its sole seaplane was undergoing repairs. The earlier Rupani government had sought Rs 120 crores from union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for purchase of two seaplanes. None have materialized so far.

The Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited(GUJSAIL),a state public sector undertaking subsequently awarded the  tender to Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd (MEHAIR) around February last year. The tender was under the state viability gap funding scheme(VGF) with the service to be operated six days a week with the VGF for a maximum  of 100 hours per month.  It was slated to start services within four months but it is yet to do so even after  an year.

Meanwhile the head of GUJSAIL ,Captain Ajay Chauhan, who for a decade, held the twin post of the CEO as well as the director of civil aviation is in choppy waters himself. He has been removed from both  posts. The issue came up in the State Assembly recently with Congress leader Amit Chavda questioning the silence of the government on the misuse of the state aircraft by an official  at least ‘100” times for other than official use. ”The chief minister’s permission is needed  for use of the state aircraft. “How was it taken out of the state under two successive CMs without them being aware of it”, Chavda questioned.

Civil aviation  activity commenced under the state government in the early seventies with use of helicopters and non-rotary aircrafts for aerial spraying during frequent locust attacks on crops. Subsequently a separate department was created in 2002  after Narendra Modi took over as chief minister while GUJSAIL was formed in 2010 for development of aviation infrastructure in the state.

 The germ of an idea is now a national project. It would do well for its originator to ensure that an elephant is not felled by an ant !

P.S. The Gujarat government admitted in the State Assembly on March 16,2023 that it has discontinued the country’s first seaplane service after spending Rs 13 crores due to exorbitant operational  and maintenance costs.  It also admitted that the foreign registration  aircraft faced  operation and maintenance difficulties. The seaplane ,a Challenger Bombardier 650,was acquired at the cost of Rs 197.90 crores by the then Vijay Rupani -led government .

http://epaper.lokmat.com/articlepage.php?articleid=LOKTIME_NPLT_20230316_6_1

http://odishapostepaper.com/edition/4427/orissapost/page/9

 

 

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