Uttarakhand chopper service grounded

The Prabhatam group's foray into aviation in Uttarakhand has suffered a serious setback after its chopper service to the Kedarnath shrine was suspended indefinitely.

The decision to suspend the helicopter service to the shrine came after a young person was killed when his head was chopped off by the rotor of a helicopter belonging to Prabhatam, a New Delhi-based private airline, at Fata area of Rudraprayag district yesterday.

Prabhatam had recently launched its chopper service to Kedarnath shrine from Fata village. Significantly, political leaders from several parties in Rudraprayag district were up in arms against Prabhatam for quite sometime alleging that the helicopter service was adversely affecting the livelihoods of local people, whose main source of income comes from Kedarnath pilgrimage.

Top officials said the helicopter service would remain suspend till the inquiry by DGCA is conducted into the yesterday's incident, Tourism Minister Prakash Pant said.

The youth, identified as Srinivas Tiwari was working at the helipad at Fata helipad, was killed after the chopper of Prabhatam Aviation chopped off his head.

As the news spread in the area, a large number of people gathered near the helipad and pelted the choppers with stones. The two choppers, used by the company, were damaged, police sources said.

The agitating people later took out a protest march and called for immediate halting of the chopper service between Fata and Kedarnath shrine.

Taking serious exception to the incident, Pant said he has ordered Prabhatam to suspend their air services to Kedarnath shrine with immediate effect.

The helicopter service of the government-run Pawan Hans, which also operates its chopper to Kedarnath, has also been suspended for the time being amid growing opposition against the chopper services in the area.