Char Dham helicopter services must not resume without safety protocols

The death of seven people in a helicopter crash on the Char Dham shuttle offers yet another tragic reminder of the dangers embedded in rapidly developing tourism infrastructure. This shuttle is a particularly egregious example of official disregard for safety. The crash near Gaurikund was one in a series of five helicopter accidents on this route in the past six weeks, two of them proving fatal and three involving malfunctioning machines. At the heart of this casual approach to safety is the state government’s indiscriminate promotion of religious tourism, which has become a critical revenue source for the state and its people. The result is ecological damage in one of the world’s most fragile ecosystems, and this is increasingly risking lives and livelihoods. 

So far nine aviation companies have agreements with the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (Ucada) to operate helicopter service for the Char Dham yatra. Though the state government does not directly set the fares, it plays a role in regulating them. Competition has driven them absurdly low. For Kedarnath, situated at 11,755 feet, the cost is between ₹6,061 and ₹8,533 per person for a round trip, depending on the starting helipad. This is extremely competitive when compared with the cost of a round trip for a pony ride, which varies from ₹2,300 to ₹3,500 for a one-way trip. To recover heavy operational costs — maintenance, pilot salaries, landing fees, ground staff, and other overheads — these services have to maximise the number of trips and minimise turnaround times. Between them, the nine service providers operate roughly 250 flights to Kedarnath every day, ferrying upwards of 1,500 pilgrims. Add to this, the service reportedly lacks air traffic control and a weather station in a region that faces uncertain weather patterns all through the year, and more so as the monsoon approaches. It is worth asking how the Directorate General of Civil Aviation did not insist — as it has done now — on the provision of basic safety protocols in the first place. 

Apart from individual trips, these helicopter services are also offered as part of Char Dham package tours, which cost between ₹1.45 lakh and ₹2.5 lakh per person and include hotel accommodation, meals, exclusive temple darshans, and local transfers within the circuit. This upscale business has attracted major five- and seven-star hotel chains to capital Dehradun, setting up massive branded properties. No lessons appear to have been learnt from the 2013 tragedy, during which over 6,000 people, mostly pilgrims, died in flash floods. Post-event investigation highlighted the perils of unregulated development in India’s most seismically vulnerable zone and flagrant disregard for construction norms by builders of dams and owners of jerry-built hotels springing up on river banks. Neither the state administration nor the Centre appears to have learnt from these disasters. Instead, whole forests are being decimated and hillsides blasted to create roads and tunnels to ease the pilgrims’ traditional struggle, regardless of the risks. The state plans to resume helicopter service soon if the weather permits, which should not be done without proper safety protocol in place.