Stung by incidents involving Pawan Hans helicopters, the Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh governments on Saturday suspended their operations with immediate effect, saying the life of people could not be “taken for granted.”
As the missing chopper of state-owned Pawan Hans carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu raised fresh concerns, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said he would take up the issue of replacing the ageing choppers with his counterparts in the northeast.
“What is happening is a matter of concern. This is not the first time that such an incident has happened,” Mr. Sangma said.
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“I was surprised to learn that the helicopter in which Dorjee Khandu was travelling had a single engine. We cannot take life of people for granted,” Mr. Sangma said.
Transport Minister A.T. Mondal told PTI that he had instructed his office to close down the Pawan Hans office in Guwahati.
“We have been writing to them [Pawan Hans], but there is no response. They are not taking care. The condition of the helicopter is not good,” Mr. Mondal said of the one which operates daily from Shillong to Tura via Guwahati and back. Two Pawan Hans choppers operates in Arunachal.
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The Minister said the license of Pawan Hans to operate in Meghalaya had expired long ago, but due to the requirements it was allowed to operate.
Fresh tenders
He said the State would write to the Centre and call for fresh tenders for operating the service.
“We have not blacklisted Pawan Hans. They can apply again, but they have to be competent,” Mr. Mondal said.
The Centre has alerted the Department of Space and ISRO for help in locating the helicopter.
Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said Indian satellites had made two passes over the probable area from where the helicopter went missing, but had not picked up any signal.
He said Pawan Hans helicopters carried a location transponder that could communicate at 406 MHz frequency in the event of an emergency. It could also be manually operated.
President Pratibha Patil has expressed concern over the missing helicopter with Mr. Khandu onboard and hoped he and other passengers were safe.
Ms. Patil is in touch with Arunachal Governor J.J. Singh on the matter, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has spoken to Mr. J.J. Singh and enquired about Mr. Khandu, his Media Advisor Harish Khare said.
Soon after his return from Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh, where he attended a rally, the Prime Minister was briefed by National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon about the search operations being carried out on either side of India-Bhutan border.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who met Mr. Khandu in Itanagar on Friday, said she was concerned over his wellbeing.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoke to the wife and son of Mr. Khandu and is in touch with party men from the State to enquire about his wellbeing.
‘All efforts being made'
In Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said rescue operations would resume on Sunday morning in full vigour.
“We are concerned. All efforts are being made to locate the helicopter. Search operations will begin again at the first light tomorrow,” he said.
“We continue to pray for the wellbeing of the occupants of the helicopter,” he added.
Crisis management cell set up
Sushanta Talukdar reports from Guwahati:
A high-level emergency meeting was held at the Chief Minister's Office at Itanagar on Saturday night to set up a Crisis Management Cell.
The crisis management cell, under the supervision of Chief Secretary Tabam Bam, includes Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Yeshi Tsering, Civil Aviation Commissioner Hage Khoda, Home Secretary A.K. Srivastav, IGP S.B.K. Singh, DIG (West) Robin Hibu, DIG (Intelligence) Anil Shukla, Deputy Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sain, and SP Apang Tamut.
After the meeting, government spokesman and Power Minister Jarbam Gamlin said the State had been in constant touch with the Centre as well as the government of Bhutan.
Hopes and prayers
“We only hope and pray that the Chief Minister and the team are safe,” said an official release quoting Mr. Gamlin. He urged the people of Tawang and the West and East Kameng districts to inform the local administration or the police immediately of any information on the missing chopper and those on board.