UTTARAKHAND AVIATION BODY HALTS CHOPPERS TO KEDARNATH

DEHRADUN : The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) Tuesday suspended the helicopter services in the Kedarnath valley over non-compliance of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directions on height and level of noise that the choppers generate.

Hundreds of pilgrims were stranded at Kedarnath and nearby areas in Rudrprayag district as UCADA ordered all the nine operators to ground their helicopters. A large number of pilgrims, intending to avoid the 16-km trek to the Kedarnath shrin

The move comes after the operators failed to respond to several notices that the UCADA issued to the helicopter operators in last two months asking them to submit a detailed compliance report on “flying choppers above 2000 ft (600 m) from the ground level” in consonance with the NGT’s directive.

“We sent several notices to these companies, but none replied. They have to submit the coordinates of choppers mentioning whether or not they are flying above 2000 feet as directed by the NGT. So, we asked for suspending the services for one day,” R Rajesh Kumar, additional secretary, civil aviation department, told Hindustan Times.

After suspending the chopper services, the UCADA, in the afternoon, held a meeting with the operators. The suspension spurred immediate action on part of the companies with some of them submitting the report. Chief engineer at UCADA, G Seetaiah was goping scrutinizing the document until filing of this news report. Officials said the companies whose documents are found in order would be permitted to operate the flights from Wednesday onwards.