Heli services in Kedarnath Valley could not be resumed on Tuesday much to the discomfort of the pilgrims waiting for their return from the shrine area for the last two days.
Deadline for temporary suspension of air services by the state government, owing to Sunday crash of an helicopter in Rudraprayag ended on Monday.
The grounded helicopters of the nine heli service providers could not resume sorties on Tuesday as claimed by the Uttarakhand Civil Avaition Development Authority (UCADA) on Monday. UCADA CEO Sonika had told the media on Monday that heli services will resume in Kedar Valley and other parts of the state on Tuesday as the timeline for government’s decision to stop air services in the state was going to end on June 16. Pushkar Singh Dhami government had on Sunday decided to stop heli services to Kedarnath Shrine and other Chardham pilgrimage centres following an Aryan Aviation Ltd helicopter crash at Gaurikund area that killed all seven passengers on board. Among deceased passengers was a 23 months old girl child from Maharashtra.
As helicopters remained on the ground passengers who had already booked their tickets from Dehradun and other helipads to Kedarnath were left stranded, though some of them took to pedestrian and mule rides to reach Kedarnath. However more precarious was the state of the pilgrims waiting for their return from shrine area to Guptakashi or Dehradun. They had been waiting for their return since June 15 afternoon, the day crash took place. These devotees are also forced to bear extreme cold and rains in Kedarnath area for want of adequate means to return.
Meanwhile Kedarnath shrine area is now facing increasing crowd due to constant rise in pilgrims’ foot falls both pedestrians and those taking mule or horse rides to the shrine. This, in addition to the passengers already waiting for resumption of heli services from Shri Kedarnath Ji Helipad area has resulted into substantial crowd there. Local priests in Kedarnath have claimed that crowd control may turn worrisome if no timely step was taken to help pilgrims exit the Kedarnath temple area. Attempt to contact UCADA officials failed as they couldn’t connect despite repeated efforts.
After Sunday heli crash Pushkar Singh Dhami government had ordered closure of the heli services in the state with immediate effect. Dhami had also issued strict instructions against helicopter operations till Monday June 16. Chief Minister ordered for strict SOP for heli services in the himalayan region. According to Dhami, SOP must incorporate harsh technical standards and conditions for the helicopters along with mandatory and correct weather information prior to taking flights.
Heli service will start operating for Chardham from Tuesday. After the helicopter accident in Kedarnath Dham area on June 15, the operation of heli service for Chardham was stopped. CEO of Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority Sonika said that the start of heli service operation has been confirmed.