Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has given instructions to audit all the heli accidents in the state. These also include heli accidents that happened in the past years. He has directed the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UKADA) to prepare an action plan for heli services in the state for the next 10 years and to make a concrete policy for operating only double engine helicopters in future. He said that being a tourism and Chardham state, the demand for heli services is going to increase. Due to the adverse geographical conditions, heli services will be the base of the state in future. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reviewed the heli services of the state with representatives of all the helicopter companies serving in the state, UCADA, Helicopter Inspection Body and Director General Civil Aviation at the Chief Minister’s residence.
He said that no compromise should be made in the safety standards of heli services. As the state nodal agency, the safety of passengers is the biggest responsibility of UCADA. He directed to strictly follow the regular fitness check of helicopters, to make a solid and effective standard operating procedure for helicopter booking. The Chief Minister has instructed to install cameras in the valleys of all other Dhams along with Kedar Valley in view of the hindrance in heli services due to weather, accurate weather information and safety. He has instructed UCADA and related stakeholders to study the heli service model operated in Vaishno Devi and to keep only experienced pilots in the heli service. Principal Secretary RK Sudhanshu and R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Sachin Kurve and Additional Secretary Sonika were also present in the meeting.
