BJP demands revamp of Pawan Hans services
May 5th, 2011 - 7:33 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Condoling the death of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu in a helicopter crash, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded that the government wake up and undertake a complete revamp of the Pawan Hans fleet.
“BJP condoles the tragic and untimely death of Arunanchal Pradesh chief minister and his four colleagues,” party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
“It is a wake-up call for the government to act immediately and start a total revamp of the Pawan Hans services,” he said.
The party demanded a “rigid inspection” of all 40 helicopters with Pawan Hans, government approval for the acquistion of 15 new helicopters worth Rs.600 crore and the phasing out of old helicopters.
The recent tragic accidents involving Pawan Hans helicopters, including the April 19 incident in which 17 passengers lost their lives and the April 30 crash that killed Khandu and four others, were the result “of total negligence of this vital air service of the central government”, the BJP leader said. Both crashes took place in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang area.
He said the national helicopter carrier had not acquired new helicopters in the past 25 years and continued to function with old machines.
“For these reasons, the Meghalaya government stopped operations of Pawan Hans in the state. Be it engineers and officials being ferried from Bombay High or pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi and Amarnath, people using its services feel unsafe and pray to god for their safety.” Prasad said.
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- Arunachal Pradesh CM on board Pawan Hans chopper goes missing - Apr 30, 2011
- President, PM condole death of Dorjee Khandu (Lead) - May 05, 2011
- Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu safe, chopper lands safely in Bhutan - Apr 30, 2011
- Arunachal chief minister's death mourned - May 04, 2011
- Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu safe, chopper lands at Daporijo - Apr 30, 2011
- Massive search operation to locate Arunachal Pradesh CM - Apr 30, 2011
- Mystery over Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu's whereabouts deepen - Apr 30, 2011
- Review safety of VIP choppers, demands Congress - May 04, 2011
- Dalai Lama saddened over Khandu's death - May 07, 2011
- Alliance Air to increase flights to north east - May 18, 2011
- Chopper carrying Arunachal chief minister still missing (Night Lead) - May 01, 2011
- Pawan Hans resumes copter services in northeast - Jul 27, 2011
Tags: acquistion, amarnath, bharatiya janata party, bjp leader, bombay high, central government, chief minister, crore, government approval, helicopter carrier, helicopter crash, meghalaya, national helicopter, party spokesperson, pawan hans helicopters, prasad, ravi shankar, rigid inspection, tragic accidents, untimely death