Karnataka - Bellary   

Cars are out, choppers are in

M. Ahiraj

BIG BIRD: This helicopter belongs to Minister B. Sriramulu and Janardhan Reddy, MLC.

BELLARY: Now helicopters and airplanes have taken the spotlight away from the luxury cars driving down the dusty roads in Bellary district.

Thanks to the booming iron-ore export business, a few individuals, particularly mine owners, have become fabulously wealthy, and they are splurging on aircraft. Anil Lad, a mine owner-turned-politician representing Kudligi Assembly constituency, was the first to acquire a helicopter six months ago, becoming the first legislator in the State to own one.

Now Minister for Tourism B. Sriramulu and Janardhan Reddy, suspended Bharatiya Janata Party MLC, both relatively recent entrants to the mining business, have jointly bought a helicopter.

To their credit, Mr. Lad, Mr. Sriramulu and Mr. Reddy have taken up many up community development projects without waiting for government funds. Mr. Lad distributes free bus passes to school- and college-going students and computers to schools. Mr. Sriramulu and Mr. Reddy organise mass marriages regularly, besides extending financial assistance to organise cultural and literary events.

Before getting their own helicopter, Mr. Sriramulu and Mr. Reddy used to hire choppers for their frequent travels.

Then there are the airplanes owned by the Jindals, who have set up a huge integrated steel plant, and the Baldotas, who are leading mine owners. They use the planes to shuttle between Mumbai, Bangalore and other places in connection with their business.

Some other mine owners are toying with the idea of buying a helicopter, and enquiries revealed that a few have placed orders for choppers. Till then, they have to depend on the flights introduced by Air Deccan from Bangalore to Toranagal and Goa. On an average, around 25 people travel by air to and from the district daily.

However, police officials seem to be in a fix over helicopters landing in and taking off from wherever the owners fancy. Recently a complaint was filed with the Sandur police against Mr. Lad after his helicopter landed near the ancient Kumaraswamy temple, a protected monument. Following this, senior police officials have written to Director-General of Civil Aviation seeking proper guidelines for where helicopters can be allowed to land.

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