Bhubaneswar: Concerned over the vulnerable situation in flood-hit areas in the State, former Parliamentarian Baijayant Jay Panda again took to Twitter today and appealed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to direct the police to unseal the hangar and release at least two of the three helicopters so that those can be used for relief and rescue operations underway in several districts.
Panda wrote, "Again appealing to @Naveen_Odisha for police to unseal the Bhubaneswar hangar whr 3 helicopters are idle (at least release the 2 against which thr are no allegations!) & use them free of cost for rescue & relief in inaccessible areas."
Let us not have any more unnecessary deaths, he added.
Panda stated that despite the allegation against one helicopter, three helicopters have been unnecessarily seized.
Earlier on Sunday, the senior leader, in another tweet had mentioned that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the alleged flying of one of his choppers over Chilika and neither the government nor the State police has rights to do so on aviation issues
Also Read: Govt has no rights to seal hangar, says Jay Panda on chopper seizure
The State government or police cannot seal the hangar based on allegations of violation of aviation rules since they have no authority to investigate the matters concerning aviation, Panda had said.
The response of the senior leader came after the Odisha government decided to deploy additional ODRAF and NDRF teams to assist the ongoing relief and rescue operations in Gajapati district that has witnessed extensive damage in the flash floods triggered by cyclonic storm Titli.