November 20, 2022 – Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority has sent its proposal to start direct heli service from Dehradun to Kedarnath and Badrinath. If the Directorate General of Civil Aviation approves this route, the pilgrims can fly to Kedarnath and Badrinath from the Sahastradhara helipad.
A meeting was held under Secretary Civil Aviation Dilip Jawalkar to expand the heli service in Uttarakhand and provide good facilities to pilgrims in the upcoming Chardham season.
UCADA has also proposed starting heli service on additional routes from Dehradun to Badrinath, Kedarnath and Kedarnath Valley to Badrinath, Gauchar to Kedarnath, etc. Furthermore, during the meeting, all the operators apprised the officials of UCADA about the inconvenience being faced in ticketing and operations due to excessive VIP traffic.
Private agency to look after the security of Kedarnath Helipad
It was decided to bring a private agency to Kedarnath for the safety of the helipad. Arrangements for firefighting will also be made through private security agencies.
Meteorological Department will set up a substation in Kedarnath.
Many important suggestions came forward for the safety of the helicopter and the passengers. As a result, the Meteorological Department decided that a sub-station should be set up in Kedarnath. Apart from this, consent will be taken regarding installing cameras at various places in Kedar Valley and giving real-time information to them through the network. It has been decided to evaluate them before the next travel season after taking technical advice from DGCA.
Customer care software to stop black marketing of tickets
On complaints of black marketing and problems in ticket booking, representatives of helicopter companies requested to run customer care software. Recognizing this, the Secretary of Civil Aviation gave necessary instructions to UCADA. Strict instructions were also given to make essential changes in the booking portal and to stop black marketing.
Cameras will be installed on every helipad and heliport
It was also decided that cameras would be installed at every helipad and heliport in the next season. Instructions are already given that the staff of UCADA and GMVN will verify the identity card mentioned on the ticket.
Secretary inspected the under-construction helidrome.
Secretary Civil Aviation said he inspected the state-of-the-art helidrome under construction at Sahastradhara with 500 seating capacity and instructed the officials to complete this work before the next travel season.