Forced to make emergency landing, CEC spends night at sub-zero temp

Forced to make an emergency landing in a remote village near Munsiyari due to bad weather on Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar spent the night in an uninhabited house in sub-zero temperature along with two pilots and two poll officials.

The helicopter took off on Thursday morning once the weather cleared and reached the Munsyari Tehsil headquarters safely, sources said.

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, the sources said.

According to Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vinod Girish Goswami, the chopper, which was on its way to Milam Glacier, left at 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, at around 1.30 pm, he said.

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

Soon after assuming charge in 2022, he 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.