Ration dropping in Malana via helicopter proves futile

Abhinav Vashisht

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Kullu, August 17

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sunder Singh Thakur has provided an assistance amount of Rs 2 lakh from his personal fund to the local administration to be spent on the wages of workers required for the transportation of supply of ration to Malana village.

• Read also: Copter with ration fails to land on makeshift helipad at Malana

Kullu SDM Vikas Shukla said that ration supply was sent on Friday but the helicopter could not land in the makeshift helipad made by the villagers. He said, “Even today 150 kg of ration was sent but it had to be dropped as the helicopter could not land again due to the thick tree cover.”

The dropped bags tore apart and the entire ration has been rendered unusable. Now, it will be used as fodder for the livestock. — Raju Ram, Malana Panchayat president

Malana panchayat president Raju Ram said that people were eagerly waiting for the ration supply as the stock had almost exhausted. He said, “The dropped bags tore apart and the entire ration was rendered unusable and it will be used as fodder for the livestock.” He said the entire efforts of the villagers to build a helipad had turned out to be futile due to the tall trees. He suggested that the ration could be ferried on mules through the trek routes at the earliest.

The connectivity to Malana village was cut-off after a cloudburst resulted in breaching of the barrage of a private hydel project which flooded the nullah and caused extensive damage to Jari-Malana road on the night of July 31. The trek routes from Chanderkhani and Rasol are tedious and risky and it is not feasible to carry ration through these routes. Meanwhile, the administration is making all out efforts to ensure supply of ration and essential commodities to the disconnected village.

Meanwhile, the worries of Malana residents are escalating with the passage of time. Though they themselves erected a makeshift wooden footbridge over the Malana nullah on August 6 but restoring the road from Jari to the nearest motorable point to the village seems a lengthy process. Last year during a natural disaster in July and August, ration and other essential supplies were air-dropped in many villages as connectivity to some of the villages remained disrupted for over one month.