Record 13 lakh bookings for Chardham Pilgrimage in eight days
The State Tourism Department called it a sign of record breaking flow of pilgrims to the four shrines as the pilgrimage season is scheduled to start on May 10.
Nine private aviation companies will provide chopper service to Kedarnath this season. The air service is likely to start from coming 14 May. To provide relief to pilgrims, the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority also reduced the air fare to Kedarnath.
As the 16 km trek to Kedarnath demands high-level fitness, the fast and comfortable helicopter service has been becoming popular among tourists.
It takes less than 12 minutes to reach Kedarnath by air, while the trek takes about 7 hours and the mule ride over 4 hours.
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A team of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (Government of India) will be inspecting the helipads and choppers at Phata, Sersa and Guptkashi on Monday to provide final clearance to different companies for air operations in Kedarnath.
To bring cheers for the visitors the air fare has been reduced at two helipads. Earlier the fare from Phata to Kedarnath (one way) was Rs 3,350, which has been fixed to Rs 2,339 this year. Similarly, the fare from Sersa to Kedarnath has been reduced from Rs 3,175 to Rs 2,470. But, the Guptkashi to Kedarnath fare has been increased from Rs 3,650 to Rs 4,275.
The portals of Kedarnath shrine were thrown open for pilgrims on 9 May. Visitors were forced to trek and hire mules to reach Kedarnath for attending the opening ceremony as the air service was not operating.
Though popular among tourists, the Kedarnath helicopter service is constantly creating news for violating environment norms.
In the past, the National Green Tribunal had issued notice to Union Ministry of Environment & Forests, Uttarakhand Government, National Board for Wildlife and others for the adverse affect of helicopter service on flora and fauna in Kedarnath.
Locals are annoyed with the common practice of flying the chopper low, which affects their normal life. Villagers are demanding proper regulation of the air service to Kedarnath.
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