Officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) came face to face with disaster on Tuesday when their helicopter was damaged during a mock exercise in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand.

Three senior members of the NDMA—Prof Vinod Menon, Lt Gen J R Bhardwaj (retd) and Brig B K Khanna—along with Uttarakhand Principal Secretary N S Naplichiyal, flew to Uttarkashi in two Air Force helicopters to supervise the mock exercises being conducted for natural disaster management. The helicopters landed at the Matli helipad of the ITBP in Uttarkashi and the officials went about supervising the exercises. Meanwhile, dusty winds lashed the area, overturning one of the helicopters on the helipad. Rotors of the overturned helicopter were also damaged. Officials had to cancel their visit to Chamoli district due to the accident and bad weather conditions. They returned to Dehradun and informed Uttarkashi authorities.