Explore Business Standard
Kedarnath
A case has been registered against helicopter service operating firm Aryan Aviation Private Ltd for alleged negligence in connection with the chopper crash near Kedarnath on Sunday which killed all seven people on board, including a two-year-old child and the pilot. The Bell 407 helicopter which crashed due to bad weather in the forests of Gauri Mai Khark between Gaurikund and Triyuginarayan belonged to Aryan Aviation Private Limited. A case has been registered against Aryan Aviation's accountable manager Kaushik Pathak and manager Vikas Tomar at Sonprayag police station under BNS and section 10 of the Aircraft Act 1934, police said. The case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Revenue police Sub Inspector Rajiv Nakholia posted at Phata, a small town located near the Himalayan temple. The complaint states that Aryan Aviation was allotted the first slot from 6 am to 7 am for helicopter operations on June 15, while this accident happened before that at 5:30 am. In .
Helicopter crashes or emergency landings are occurring at an alarming frequency on the Char Dham Yatra route in Uttarakhand, causing concern among people and the administration. The latest crash of an Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd chopper returning from Kedarnath near Guptkashi on Sunday morning, which killed all seven people on board, is the fifth mishap involving a helicopter on the pilgrimage route this year. A Kestrel Aviation helicopter en route Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on June 7 after developing a technical snag shortly after take-off. It made a hard landing on the road close to populated buildings, with its tail rotor hitting a parked car. All pilgrims on board, as well as the pilot, escaped narrowly. The hard landing of the helicopter came about a month after another private chopper on its way to Gangotri temple crashed near Gangnani in Uttarkashi district on May 8, killing six people, including five women and the pilot, and leavin
A couple and their two-year-old daughter hailing from Yavatmal in Maharashtra were among the seven persons killed after a helicopter crashed near the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand on Sunday, a former legislator said. The helicopter took off from Kedarnath for Guptkashi around 5.30 am and crashed soon after above the forests of Gaurikund. Five pilgrims, the pilot and an employee of the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee was among those killed, as per officials. The deceased included Rajkumar Jaiswal, a transport businessman, his wife Shraddha, and their two-year-old daughter Kashi, hailing from Yavatmal, former Wani MLA Vishvas Nandekar told reporters. Jaiswal along with his family members had left from Wani in Yavatmal on June 12 to visit the Lord Kedarnath temple, as per their family friends. The crash site is located nearly 5 km above Gaurikund known as Gauri Mai Khark. Sources said the chopper belonging to Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd crashed between Gaurikund and Trijuginarayan
A 'Sanjeevani' heli ambulance operated by AIIMS, Rishikesh on Saturday made an emergency landing in Uttarakhand's Kedarnath after developing a technical snag, an official said. Two doctors and a pilot on board the helicopter are safe, District Tourism Development Officer Rahul Chaubey said. The Sanjeevani heli ambulance had gone to Kedarnath to rescue a pilgrim suffering from respiratory distress when it developed a technical snag in its tail rotor forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing, said Chaubey, who is also the nodal officer for the Heli Service said. The heli ambulance's tail rotor broke when it was making an emergency landing on a flat surface close to the helipad, he said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will conduct an investigation into the incident, Choubey said. The heli ambulance was coming to Kedarnath from AIIMS Rishikesh to rescue a patient, Shree Devi. Before landing on the main helipad of Kedarnath, the helicopter developed some technic
The Char Dham Yatra to the four Himalayan shrines in Uttarakhand will begin on Wednesday with the opening of the doors to the Gangotri and Yamunotri temples for devotees on the occasion of Akshay Tritiya, officials said on Tuesday. The doors to the other two Dhams -- Kedarnath and Badrinath -- will open on May 2 and May 4, respectively. The four temples remain closed for six months during winter. All preparations, including heightened security arrangements, have been completed for the Yatra, officials said. Uttarakhand DGP Deepam Seth reached Rishikesh on Tuesday and reviewed the security arrangements for the Yatra. Talking to reporters, the DGP said that in view of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives, strict security arrangements have been made for the annual pilgrimage. "We will not compromise on the security of pilgrims," Seth said. Nearly 6,000 police personnel, 17 companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and 10 companies of paramilitary force
The Chardham yatra route has been classified into 15 super zones, 41 zones and 137 sectors for better management of the annual pilgrimage to the four famed Himalayan temples of Uttarakhand, a senior police official said on Saturday. Inspector General (IG) Garhwal Swaroop on Saturday said more than 6,000 personnel will be deployed along the route to monitor security and transportation arrangements. Every sector will be spread over a 10-kilometre area, where security personnel will conduct patrolling and perform other duties round the clock, said IG Swaroop, who has been appointed nodal officer for the yatra. A control room, headed by Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Lokjeet Singh, is being set up at the range office, the IG said, adding that he will personally monitor the security arrangements, traffic, crowd and disaster management preparations. The Chardham yatra is scheduled to begin on April 30, with the opening of the Gangotri and Yamunotri temples. Kerdarnath will open on Ma
The Congress and the BJP on Sunday announced their candidates for the November 20 Kedarnath assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand. The Congress has named former MLA Manoj Rawat as its candidate while the ruling BJP has fielded Pradesh Mahila Morcha president Asha Nautiyal. Nautiyal was elected from the seat in 2002 and 2007 on a BJP ticket. A former journalist, Manoj Rawat won from Kedarnath in 2017. He lost to the BJP's Shaila Rani Rawat in the 2022 polls. The bypoll, the result of which will be declared on November 23, was necessitated by Shaila Rani Rawat's death in July.
The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that almost 75 per cent of the awarded work of the strategic Chardham Project in Uttarakhand which goes up to China border, was complete. The strategic 900-kilometre project aims to provide an all-weather connectivity to the four holy shrines in Uttarakhand -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, informed a bench of Justices C T Ravikumar and Ujjal Bhuyan that the apex court-appointed oversight committee has submitted two reports to the top court. According to Bhati, the apex court had appointed an oversight committee, chaired by former top court judge Justice (retired) A K Sikri. Referring to the committee's report given in August, 2024, Bhati said, "Almost 75 per cent of the awarded work is complete." She further said there were two reports -- one in April, 2024 and the other of August 27 -- pertaining to the proposed project. The bench said the ...
Bodies of four more pilgrims were recovered on Tuesday from the debris of a landslide that occurred on Monday evening on the Kedarnath route, taking the toll in the incident to five, officials said. More pilgrims could be trapped under the debris, Rudraprayag Police said on Tuesday. A group of pilgrims returning from a visit to Kedarnath were trapped in the landslide at around 7.20 pm on Monday. SDRF and NDRF personnel had launched a rescue operation immediately and retrieved one body of a pilgrim identified as Gopal (50) from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh besides rescuing three others who were rushed to Sonprayag in an ambulance. The rescue operation had to suspended due to bad weather and boulders still falling from the hillside intermittently on Monday night. As recuse efforts were resumed on Tuesday morning, bodies of four more pilgrims, including three women, were pulled out of the debris The pilgrims were identified as Durgabai Khapar (50) from Ghat district in Madhya Pradesh, Tit