Stranded at 12,000 feet, CEC Rajiv Kumar rescued after 17 hrs

DEHRADUN/PITHORAGARH: India's chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar , and Uttarakhand 's additional chief electoral officer, Vijay Kumar Jogdande, were rescued from a remote village in Pithoragarh and brought to Munsiyari on Thursday morning, 17 hours after their helicopter, en route to Milam Glacier , made an emergency landing in Ralam village, 42km away at an altitude of 12,000 feet, due to bad weather.

The two officials spent the night in an empty house in the deserted village without adequate woollens, huddled around a bonfire with instant noodles for dinner, enduring sub-zero temperatures until rescue teams arrived.

Bengaluru trekker helped CEC spend night at uninhabited house

The duo, along with the pilot, was spotted wandering in sub-zero temperatures by a trekker from Bengaluru and his two porters, who opened an uninhabited house in Ralam village. "They lit a bonfire and provided instant noodles to them. The hamlet is deserted as its residents have moved to lower valleys for the winter, leaving the area without electricity or communication facilities. The only connection to the outside world was a satellite phone carried by the CEC," Pithoragarh district magistrate Vinod Goswami said.

Three teams, including two from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) from Lilam and Milam, and a three-member team of locals from Paanto village, were sent to assist the stranded officials. Despite inclement weather, the ITBP team trekked over 20 km and reached the group by 5am on Thursday. Before the ITBP team, the three locals from Panto reached there around 1.20am. SDRF commandant Arpan Yadhuvanshi said, "The officials were brought to Munsiyari before being transported back to Dehradun. They are safe and healthy."

The CEC was on his way to inspect remote polling stations in the Milam area to understand the challenges faced by election officials and voters in these high-altitude locations but had to abandon the plan. "The CEC and others were unable to sleep through the night due to the freezing temperatures and insufficient warm clothing," an official involved in the rescue told TOI.