By IANS
Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh government, in the wake of a fatal army helicopter accident last week, has made it mandatory for all span wires criss-crossing the state's skyline to have flags alerting helicopters and aeroplanes.
Home secretary S. Vijay Kumar has asked all district magistrates in the state to prepare a list of spans and other high rise structures which need to indicate their height to flying objects, an official spokesman said here Monday.
Spans are thick overhead wires connecting two yawning hills, which help to rotate a trolley carrying goods, as there are no roads in many parts of the steep Himalayan terrain.
Although span wires, high-tension power cables and high-rise buildings are supposed to have flags or blinkers to caution helicopters and aeroplanes, this rule has not been followed in the Himachal Pradesh countryside.
The state government woke up from its slumber after two army pilots died last week when their cheetah helicopter got entangled in a span wire in the Kinnaur valley and burst into flames.