Three persons have died after the helicopter they were flying in after dropping relief supplies in disaster affected Moldi area of Uttarkashi, crashed on a mountain on Wednesday afternoon. Expressing grief at the mishap, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced Rs 15 lakh for the dependents of each of the three killed in the crash.
According to official sources, a helicopter of Heritage Aviation engaged in rescue and relief in the disaster affected Arakot area of Uttarkashi district was on its way back after dropping relief supplies at Moldi.
The chopper reportedly hit a mountain while trying to avoid overhead wires in the area. Apart from electricity supply lines these included trolley wires installed by locals to ferry apples to the road-head from surrounding orchards. The mishap resulted in the death of the pilot Ranjit Lal, co-pilot Shailesh- both residents of Delhi and Rajpal Rana a resident of Kharsali. Soon after the incident the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat held a meeting with officials at State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) to review the situation. Silence was observed for a minute as a tribute to those killed in the mishap. After expressing grief over the incident and taking stock of the sequence of events preceding the accident and actions following the same from the officials present, the chief minister announced relief of Rs 15 lakh to next of kin of the persons who died in the incident. Meanwhile, relief efforts continued in the disaster affected area where 15 villages with a total population of 8,107 have been affected.Fifteen persons have died, three are missing and 10 are injured in the area due to the disaster caused by heavy rains on Sunday. On Wednesday, five medical teams had provided treatment to 142 persons by 4 PM with 300 people having been treated so far. A team of veterinarians from Dehradun district had earlier reached the affected area on Tuesday. A total of 74 domesticated animals have died and three are injured in the area. Of the 10 blocked roads in the affected area, the Public Works Department has reopened five roads for traffic. While the national highway to Arakot was been opened to traffic, 35 JCBs have been deployed to reopen the other blocked roads in the district. Out of the 52 villages where electricity supply was disrupted, the power supply to 37 villages has been restored. Meanwhile, in Dehradun, the chief minister visited the Government Doon Medical College Hospital to check on the condition of the injured people from disaster affected area undergoing treatment here.
