Uttarakhand Chief Minister Mr. Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday flagged off the Indo-Tibetan Border Police’s (ITBP) ambitious border-level trekking expedition ‘Himadri-2025’ at the Mukhya Sewak Sadan of his official residence in Dehradun. The 47-member ITBP team will traverse approximately 1,032 km through the remote and challenging terrains of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Ladakh.
Addressing the ceremony, Mr. Dhami extended his best wishes to the expedition team and expressed hope that the journey would strengthen surveillance in sensitive border regions while simultaneously boosting tourism, preserving local culture, and fostering development in remote villages.
“This challenging journey will help bring border villages into the mainstream by promoting tourism, culture, and local development. It will also support the surveillance of our sensitive areas,” said the Chief Minister. He also paid homage to those who lost their lives in the Air India-171 plane crash, extending condolences to the bereaved families.
Mr. Dhami later took to social media platform X, sharing that the ITBP team will reconnect with the folk culture and environmental diversity of inaccessible border areas and revive long-closed trekking routes.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also reviewed the ongoing Char Dham Yatra, which has seen around 28 lakh pilgrims so far. He reiterated that the safety of devotees remains the top priority and said that the pilgrimage is being monitored at multiple administrative levels.
In light of recent helicopter-related incidents during the Yatra, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has stepped up enforcement of safety protocols. After a Kestrel Aviation helicopter made an emergency landing on a highway in Guptkashi on June 7, the DGCA suspended the operator’s license. This follows the earlier suspension of another operator in May for safety violations.
The aviation regulator is now conducting enhanced surveillance and special audits of helicopter operators engaged in Char Dham services. It is also monitoring live camera feeds at Kedarnath provided by the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) to detect real-time violations of standard operating procedures (SOPs).
On Saturday, DGCA reported further non-compliance by two operators who failed to follow helicopter parking protocols. Investigations are underway to examine potential mechanical issues, human error, or adverse weather conditions. Operators have been directed to restrict flights to Out of Ground Effect (OGE) conditions until further notice.
Amid growing concerns, the DGCA is also weighing the option of curtailing helicopter services to the Char Dham shrines if safety lapses persist.
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