Pithoragarh: Chief election commissioner, Rajiv Kumar and Uttarakhand’s additional chief electoral officer, Vijay Kumar Jogdande were rescued from a remote village situated in high-altitude zone of Pithoragarh district and brought to Munsiyari on Thursday morning after 18 hours of emergency landing of his helicopter in Ralam village due to the bad weather.
Since Ralam village is situated at the height of 12000 feet, it remained vacant during winters. Its residents start moving to lower regions vacating the village with the onset of winter. Along with some trekkers, the head of the nearest village Paanto had reached Ralam to help CEC and other members and provided Maggie packets and warm clothes for their survival amid the biting cold.
Emergency landing due to the bad weather
On Wednesday morning, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar’s helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing in a remote village near Munsiyari due to bad weather. CEC Rajiv Kumar, along with two pilots and two poll officials, had to spend the night in an uninhabited house in sub-zero temperature without adequate woollen clothes and nothing to eat for dinner.
Spotted by a trekker from Bengaluru
Amid sub-zero temperature, CEC along with Vijay Jogdande and pilot was spotted by a trekker from Bengaluru and his two porters who opened an uninhibited house in Ralam village. According to Pithoragarh district magistrate Vinod Goswami, the trekker and the porters lit a bonfire and provided instant noodles for dinner. They could not be contacted in absence of electricity and phone connectivity, only satellite phones are the medium to contact in that area.
Three teams were deployed for his rescue
To rescue the trapped officials, two teams of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and one team of locals from Paanto villages were sent to Ralam village. Amid poor weather ITBP team trekked around 20 km and reached the group around 5 am on Thursday morning. The team of locals reached the spot before ITBP at 2.30 am. Later, the officials were brought to Munsiyari by helicopter and then to Dehradun. They all are hale and hearty.
Kumar was scheduled to visit the remote polling stations in Pithoragarh
Kumar was scheduled to visit remote polling stations in Pithoragarh and 14 nearby villages to gain first-hand knowledge of the challenges faced by election officials and the electorate in the high-altitude terrain, sources said. According to Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vinod Girish Goswami, the chopper, which was en route to Milam Glacier, departed at around 1 pm on Wednesday. However, due to cloudy weather and low visibility, it landed on a helipad in Ralam village, 42 km away, at around 1.30 pm.
