Uttarakhand: CEC spends night in deserted village after emergency landing

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar spent Wednesday (October 16) night in an uninhabited house in sub-zero temperatures after his chopper made an emergency landing in a remote village near Munsiyari, Uttarakhand, due to bad weather.

The two pilots of the chopper and two poll officials were with him.

The helicopter took off on Thursday morning once the weather cleared and reached the Munsyari Tehsil headquarters safely, news agency PTI reported.

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First-hand knowledge of challenges

Kumar was scheduled to visit the remote polling stations in Pithoragarh and 14 nearby villages to gain first-hand knowledge of the challenges faced by the election officials and the electorate in the high-altitude terrain, sources told PTI.

According to Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vinod Girish Goswami, the chopper, which was on its way to Milam Glacier, left around 1 pm on Wednesday.

However, due to the cloudy weather and low visibility, it landed on a helipad in Ralam village, 42 km away, around 1.30 pm, he said. The remote village of Ralam is covered in snow now and has 28 houses but is currently deserted as the residents have migrated from there.

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Kumar’s explorations

In the past too, Kumar had explored the remote polling locations in the region.

Soon after assuming charge in 2022, he had trekked to one of the most distant polling stations at Dumak village in Chamoli district to experience the difficulties faced by the polling staff.

Following the visit, the district election officers reviewed and optimised the route maps for polling stations that required two to three days of trekking. A special backpack to carry EVMs also came into use for such harsh terrains.

(With agency inputs)