According to the Nepal Army (NA), the Indian Air Force choppers are based in Pokhara and Kathmandu. They have been dropping relief materials in Gorkha, Makwanpur, Rasuwa and Dhading districts. Six Indian choppers are based in Pokhara and seven are stationed in Kathmandu, the NA said.

One NA official is designated to each flight to coordinate in the foreign relief operation.

Though the US has provided eight choppers for relief distribution, four of them, namely Osprey used by the US Marine Corps, could not fly to areas located in high altitude, making it difficult to drop relief materials, one NA official said.

The US has been given the responsibility to drop relief materials in Kavre, Dolakha, Ramechaap and Okhaldhunga districts.

Three Chinese MI-17 are also engaged in relief distribution in northern belt of Nepal, adjoining Chinese bordering districts like Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot and Rasuwa.

Govt bans flying of drones amid fear of info leak

The government has put a ban on flying of drones in Nepal’s skies following the Great Quake fearing leakage of sensitive information and pictures of valuable heritage sites.

Issuing a statement, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that those wishing to fly the drones for the purpose of research should take prior permission from the Authority. “But no permission would be given to fly these objects in prohibited areas,” added the statement. Nepal does not have any law regarding flying of drones and other unmanned aircrafts in its skies.

In the aftermath of the April 25 quake, some foreign media and aid agencies were found to have used drones to assess the exact loss of human lives and devastation caused by the earthquake.

The authority claimed that it has received information that some organisations had used drones to take pictures and videos of valuable heritage sites of Nepal which could be at risk of being misused.