‘Sunday of Sorrows’: Twin disasters in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra leave 11 dead

Even as India is yet to come to terms with Thursday’s devastating Air India aircraft crash in Ahmedabad that left 241 passengers and crew members, on the aeroplane and several people on the ground dead, the nation was rocked by two more tragedies in Uttarakhand and Maharashtra on Sunday.
Though the toll on Sunday- seven in a helicopter crash in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag and four in Maharashtra’s Pune so far, while several are missing, they come as a rude reminder of sudden mortality and lapses.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who landed in Cyprus on the first stage of his three-nation tour, including to the G7 meeting in Canada, called up chief ministers of Uttarakhand and Maharashtra to discuss the incidents and express his grief.
In the helicopter tragedy, all seven people on board, including a 23-month-old infant and the pilot, lost their lives when the chopper, en route from Kedarnath Dham to Guptkashi, crashed early on Sunday in the Gaurikund area of Rudraprayag.
The chopper went down in a densely forested region during its short 10-minute flight, crashing between Gaurikund and Sonprayag around 5:20 a.m.
The incident has been attributed to poor visibility and adverse weather conditions, which officials say played a major role in the crash.
Rescue and relief operations were launched, with teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) deployed at the crash site.
This marks the fifth aviation-related incident since the portals of the Kedarnath temple were opened on May 2.
Bridge collapse: In the Pune bridge collapse, at least four people were drowned, several others injured, while a total of 39 people were rescued after they fell into an overflowing river when sections of an old bridge came crashing down.
The bridge over the Indrayani River at Kundamala in Pune’s Maval taluka suddenly collapsed, sending the people plunging into the water and being swept away.
Visuals from the scene showed sections of the bridge, mostly directly over the waters, broken down and having fallen into the river while rescue personnel from various agencies worked to locate and rescue the victims.
A crane was pressed into service as efforts continue to remove parts of the collapsed structure amid rescue operations.
“…It (the bridge) collapsed while people were crossing it. Around 20–25 people were on the bridge at that time.. The families of the victims and a regular crowd have gathered at the site…” a rescue worker told IANS.