To view Ganesha immersion, pay Rs 3,400 for 15-minute copter ride

On September 11, Mr Yogesh Mehta will be on a helicopter with family members to see the immersion of Ganesha idols, off the coast of Mumbai.

The 15 minute-ride will cost Mr Mehta about Rs 3,400 each, but that has not dampened this senior citizen. “This is going to be my second helicopter ride on Ganesha Visarjan. Last year, I had gone with my wife and had a great experience. This year we are going in a group of 15,” says Mr Mehta, a resident of Thane who has been allotted the 2:30 p.m. slot on Visarjan day.

Mr Mehta's family will not be the only ones, as over 100 people have registered online to get a bird's eye view of the Ganesha Visarjan.

This time, private aviation companies are offering a 15-minute ride as compared with last year's more expensive half-hour ride. The ride cost Rs 10,000 for 30 minutes last year.

About six aviation companies have tied up with e-commerce portals to arrange helicopter rides to give Mumbaikars their last glimpse of the elephant God, as he goes in for immersion.

Helicopter tour

Efficient Flyers has tied up with Rediff ‘Deal Ho Jaye' to offer the Ganesha Visarjan helicopter tour at Rs 3,999. “Rediff ‘Deal Ho Jaye' is three to four months old so we thought it was a good option to have such an offer for the public as the Visarjan is nearing. We will be offering this deal to a maximum of 56 people,” said Mr Vivek Sharma, senior Vice-President, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sales and business operations, Rediff India.

Aerial view

The aerial view will give people a different perspective of the Ganapati idols at around 1,000-1,500 meters from the sea level. The fifteen minute ride will include landing and take-off time.

“We will be taking off from the Juhu aerodrome and will be following the coastline route. We don't know the exact route we will be taking because we will get instructions from the Air Traffic Control only one day prior to the Visarjan,” said Mr Joslyn Pereira from Efficient Flyers. According to the aviation companies, the route will mostly be from the Juhu and Thane aerodrome to Versova, Bandra or Gorai beaches.

Yagnya Aviation, which will offer helicopter rides to people from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., has registered 121 passengers for the event. “We have been conducting these helicopter rides for the past two-three years. We used to have half-an-hour rides but this is the first time we are having fifteen minute rides,” said Mr Nandan Korgaonkar, Director, Yagnya Aviation, which has tied up with an e-commerce portal to offer the chopper ride.

But incessant rains Mumbai is witnessing could play a spoil-sport. “If the weather is not good on the 11{+t}{+h} then we will not be allowed to fly. In that case, we will take people on a sort of joy ride on the next day. In that case, they may not be able to see the Visarjan,” said Mr Pereira.