Char Dham Yatra: ‘Students, wildlife hit by chopper pilgrimage in Uttarakhand’, say consultants

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: Choppers flying pilgrims on a tour of 4 holy web sites (Char Dham Yatra) of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath is having an opposed have an effect on on school children and the environment, declare consultants.

The helicopters make higher than 25 journeys an hour between Kedarghati and Kedarnath. Experts say these chopper journeys are often not good for the wildlife and likewise for the Himalayas. They recalled the 2013 cloudburst centered on Uttarakhand which introduced on devastating floods and landslides.

Situated at an altitude of 11,750 toes above sea stage, Kedarnath Dham is surrounded by hills on three sides. 

This pilgrim season, seven aviation corporations are involved in ferrying passengers to Kedarnath. The Kedarghati to Kedarnath route is kind of a two-sided V-shaped slender valley, which is inclined.

Prof Rakesh Kumar Maikhuri, head of the Department of Environmental Sciences at Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Central University, instructed The New Indian Express that children’s education and environment are adversely affected due to the choppers flying beneath the prescribed customary altitude in Kedarghati. The DGCA norms prescribe that flights should be operated above 600 meters from the underside, say experiences.

Prof Maikhuri, who studied the have an effect on of helicopter flights in Sirsi, Ravigram and Rampur villages talked about “The roar of the helicopter distracts the animals. This affects their milking volume process due to changes in their behaviour”.

“Being a native of the area, I also found in my study that the sound of the choppers has changed the behaviour of pets in villages within a one-kilometre radius of the helipad. Other wild animals including horses and deer living in the wildlife area between Rambada and Kedarnath are disturbed by the sound. This was confirmed by the ‘stool samples’ of wild animals in the investigation. The government was warned thereafter in this regard, but no action has been taken”, Maikhuri talked about.

“During the study, we sought the views of children, parents and teachers of schools in that area, which showed that chopper flights have had a very adverse impact on the academic environment as well,” he added.

Prof Maikhuri talked about that between 2005 and 2012, he had launched a report on the helicopters being operated for Kedarnath, by which he clearly recognized, “Helicopters flying in Kedarnath are causing problems to the people even in the populated area of Kedarghati.”

“Environmentalist Jagat Singh ‘Junglee’ talked about the carbon {{that a}} helicopter emits all through its flight has a big impact on the environment. The distance from Kedarnath to Chaurabari Tal is solely 4 km, whereas the air distance is kind of fast. In such a situation, the have an effect on of the loud sound of the helicopter inside the glacier house cannot be dominated out.

DEHRADUN: Choppers flying pilgrims on a tour of 4 holy web sites (Char Dham Yatra) of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath is having an opposed have an effect on on school children and the environment, declare consultants.

The helicopters make higher than 25 journeys an hour between Kedarghati and Kedarnath. Experts say these chopper journeys are often not good for the wildlife and likewise for the Himalayas. They recalled the 2013 cloudburst centered on Uttarakhand which introduced on devastating floods and landslides.

Situated at an altitude of 11,750 toes above sea stage, Kedarnath Dham is surrounded by hills on three sides. googletag.cmd.push(carry out() googletag.present(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

This pilgrim season, seven aviation corporations are involved in ferrying passengers to Kedarnath. The Kedarghati to Kedarnath route is kind of a two-sided V-shaped slender valley, which is inclined.

Prof Rakesh Kumar Maikhuri, head of the Department of Environmental Sciences at Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Central University, instructed The New Indian Express that children’s education and environment are adversely affected due to the choppers flying beneath the prescribed customary altitude in Kedarghati. The DGCA norms prescribe that flights should be operated above 600 meters from the underside, say experiences.

Prof Maikhuri, who studied the have an effect on of helicopter flights in Sirsi, Ravigram and Rampur villages talked about “The roar of the helicopter distracts the animals. This affects their milking volume process due to changes in their behaviour”.

“Being a native of the area, I also found in my study that the sound of the choppers has changed the behaviour of pets in villages within a one-kilometre radius of the helipad. Other wild animals including horses and deer living in the wildlife area between Rambada and Kedarnath are disturbed by the sound. This was confirmed by the ‘stool samples’ of wild animals in the investigation. The government was warned thereafter in this regard, but no action has been taken”, Maikhuri talked about.

“During the study, we sought the views of children, parents and teachers of schools in that area, which showed that chopper flights have had a very adverse impact on the academic environment as well,” he added.

Prof Maikhuri talked about that between 2005 and 2012, he had launched a report on the helicopters being operated for Kedarnath, by which he clearly recognized, “Helicopters flying in Kedarnath are causing problems to the people even in the populated area of Kedarghati.”

“Environmentalist Jagat Singh ‘Junglee’ talked about the carbon {{that a}} helicopter emits all through its flight has a big impact on the environment. The distance from Kedarnath to Chaurabari Tal is solely 4 km, whereas the air distance is kind of fast. In such a situation, the have an effect on of the loud sound of the helicopter inside the glacier house cannot be dominated out.