Uttarakhand governor's helicopter makes emergency landing due to technical snag

Pauri (Uttarakhand), Mar 8 (PTI) A helicopter carrying Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen Gurmeet Singh (retd) made an emergency landing in Srinagar here on Sunday after it developed a technical snag, officials said.

The governor was headed to Gairsain in Chamoli district, the state's summer capital, after attending the "Tehri Lake Festival - Himalayan O2" in Tehri as the chief guest, the officials said.

The budget session of the Uttarakhand Assembly will begin in Chamoli on Monday.

Around 1:30 pm, the governor's helicopter suddenly developed a technical snag, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at a helipad of a company, GVK, in Srinagar, the officials said.

The governor was taken to a police guest house, from where he left for Gairsain by road under heavy security around 5 pm, Pauri District Magistrate Swati S Bhadoria told PTI.

The Congress criticised the BJP government over the governor completing his onward journey by road.

The government should have arranged a second helicopter for the governor, Uttarakhand Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal said.

"If the government was unable to arrange a second helicopter for the governor, then it would be considered a failure," he said. PTI DPT DIV DIV