Awaiting DGCA nod for starting NFC admissions: Divisional commissioner Prajakta Lavangare

NAGPUR: The Nagpur Flying Club (NFC) is waiting for a certification and other approvals from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) before admitting students to its Private Pilot License (PPL) and Commercial Private License (CPL) courses.
This was informed by divisional commissioner Prajakta Lavangare-Verma during her visit to TOI-MT office on Tuesday.
Prodded by Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, the British era club had restarted flying activities from March 25 by successfully flying its three out of four aircraft. The NFC was closed for the last three-and-half years due to Maharashtra government’s apathy. Earlier, it was reopened in 2008, again on the HC directives, after being defunct for over 14 years.
Speaking to TOI, the newly appointed divisional commissioner, who’s ex-officio chairman of the government-run NFC, said vacancies of a ground instructor and other staff required to restart the flying activities have been filled. “We’re awaiting the DGCA’s nod. Due to Covid pandemic, the operations were affected for some time, which led to a slight delay. Now, we’ve written to the concerned authorities to grant the certification and necessary approvals at the earliest,” she said.
Speaking on the projected Covid third wave, Lavangare, who has been appointed as the first woman divisional commissioner of Nagpur division comprising six districts, said the administration is fully geared up to tackle the deadly virus this time.
“Measures are being taken to ready adequate beds for children if they contract the virus and ensure oxygen supply is sufficient. However, more emphasis will be placed on preventing the spread of the virus. The administration has instructed all concerned to diagnose patients at the early stage apart from following contact tracing strictly. During the first two waves, people suffered more as we didn’t have the experience of handling the virus. But, now we’re taking all measures to fight it out and even funds have been made available,” said the divisional commissioner.
While acknowledging that Covid pandemic has put hospitals under tremendous stress, Lavangare said in some cases overuse of facilities also led to fire incidents. “We’ve completed survey of these hospitals and a report has been submitted. We will be initiating measures on a short- and long-term basis, which would require huge funds. However, as a matter of urgency, we’ve instructed all hospitals to clear their emergency exits of any obstructions,” she said.