A helicopter which was transporting metal from the flood-hit area of Kedarnath in Uttrakhand to Gauchar by an MI-17 chopper fell mid-air today when the towing rope snapped. The helicopter, which belonged to a private company, crashed near the Mandakini River in the Lincholi area, near Tharu Camp. Thankfully, nobody was injured in the accident this time, which was recorded for the media to see.
As per official records, “Regarding the unfortunate incident which occurred today, the State Disaster Response Fund SDRF rescue team received inputs from the police in Lincholi that a defective helicopter of a private company which was being transported by another helicopter from the Shri Kedarnath helipad to the Gochar helipad was washed away in river Lincholi near Tharu Camp. SDRF has reached the scene of the mishap and relief operations are currently underway.”
The helicopter that had the accident was used to transport visitors to the Kedarnath shrine, which is a temple in the mountains. But ever since 31st July, the arrivals have significantly dropped due to extremely bad weather that has washed away the track that leads to this temple.
Due to the flowing rainwater, landslides started occurring on the Gaurikund Kedarnath route, which led to thousands of pilgrims being stranded and a massive rescue operation was initiated by the local administration. The rescue operations were aided by Chinook and MI-17 of the Indian Air Force and other private helicopters to help the stranded people come out from the area safely.
However, due to this, some sections of the trek route remained out of bounds throughout August, and the heli services to the temple continued to be used by some pilgrants, leaving out the dangerous trail. However, the administration remains vigilant in encouraging the safety of all pilgrims and residents of the affected region.
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