DGCA begins probe into Kedarnath chopper crash, death toll rises to 7
Darpan News Desk IANS, 18 Oct, 2022 12:19 PM
New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) Aviation regulator DGCA has launched a probe into the Kedarnath helicopter crash in which seven people, including the pilot, were killed on Tuesday.
A senior DGCA official said that a team will be sent soon to the crash site to do a detailed probe.
The helicopter, carrying pilgrims, crashed after takeoff from the Kedarnath shrine near Garud Chatti in Rudraprayag at around 11.40 a.m.
"Aryan Aviation Bell-407 helicopter VT-RPN with passengers took off from Kedarnathji Dham for GuptKashi. The weather was cloudy over Garud Chatti. In a valley near Garud Chatti a loud noise was heard and the helicopter caught fire," said the DGCA official.
"As per the preliminary information received, a Bell 407 helicopter VT-RPN belonging to a Delhi-based NSOP holder M/s Aryan Aviation crashed on the way from Kedarnath to Guptkashi, possibly due to bad weather...," said the official.
Earlier, in August this year, five helicopter operators, who were carrying pilgrims to Kedarnath shrine, were each fined Rs 5 lakh each by the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The operators were fined for not maintaining correct flying records. The regulator also suspended officials from two other operators for three months for flouting safety rules.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the move is aimed at sprucing up the health and education infrastructure of Punjab by replicating the Delhi model in both these core sectors.
After launching the web-portal amidst presence of DIG (Cyber Crime) Nilambari Jagdale and DSP Samarpal Singh, the DGP congratulated the entire team for developing this user-friendly portal, which could be easily accessed by anyone to report cyber frauds.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla noted that the interim status report filed by the Delhi Police shows that the police force failed to prevent miscreants from reaching the residence of the Chief Minister and vandalising the area.
In a record, the Punjab Government said it cleared payments of Rs 13,000 crore of farmers for procurement of wheat till Monday, state Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said. He said this was the highest payment in the past decade.
The victims, both from West Bengal, were rushed to the SMHS hospital in Srinagar, where the condition of one is stated to be critical while the other is stable.
A case in this connection was registered against Ranjit Gogoi, the then Director of Information and Public Relation, Assam, and different private companies, for alleged misappropriation of the state government's money. The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of CM's Vigilance Cell FIR lodged in 2017 against the accused.
