Come rain or shine: Rajasthan students hire helicopter to reach exam centre in Uttarakhand

PITHORAGARH: Four B.Ed students from Rajasthan hired a helicopter to reach their exam centre in Munsiyari here as landslides caused by heavy rain have left many roads blocked in Uttarakhand. Residents of Rajasthan's Balotra town, these students of Uttarakhand Open University had to reach R S Tolia PG College in Munsiyari to take the exam.

One of these students, Omaram Jat, said, "When we reached Haldwani on August 31, we came to know that all the roads leading to Munsiyari were closed due to landslides. We thought we would not be able to take our exam." He said then they came to know about a company which provides helicopter service between Haldwani and Munsiyari. However, they found that the service was temporarily unavailable due to bad weather.

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"Then we spoke to the CEO of Heritage Aviation and requested him to take us from Haldwani to Munsiyari. We told him that we would lose a year if we do not reach the examination centre. After this, he dispatched two pilots and a helicopter who safely took us to Munsiyari and brought us back to Haldwani," Omaram said.

The one-way fare for the helicopter ride was Rs 5,200, he said. Besides Omaram, the other three students are Mangaram Jat, Prakash Godara Jat and Narpat Kumar. Somesh Kumar, in-charge of B.Ed examination of Uttarakhand Open University, said the examination centre was selected by the candidates themselves.