Two helicopters parked at a Juhu hangar seemed like a prized recovery for the BMC after it seized the flying machines from a property tax defaulter in March 2020. While the pending tax was then Rs 1.95 crore, the civic body’s hopes crashed when it found that the choppers are worth a mere Rs 45 lakh as many parts were missing from them.

MESCO Aerospace owed Rs 1.65 crore to the BMC in property tax as of March 2019. The BMC disconnected the water supply to its office but the company still didn’t pay up. The next year, the civic body seized its two Eurocopter AS350 Ecureuil (Squirrel) choppers at Juhu aerodrome. The pending tax has now soared to Rs 2.76 crore.