India, Sept. 19 -- Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday flagged off an expedition team tasked with conducting GPS/GIS mapping and technical surveys of 100 major trekking and hiking routes across the state. The initiative aims to improve trekking safety, navigation, emergency response and tourism infrastructure in the Himalayan region.

Teams constituted by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council will carry out field surveys of selected routes and prepare detailed digital maps. According to Tourism Secretary Dheeraj Garbyal, the mapping exercise will support the development of an online and offline GPS navigation application covering all 100 routes.

The offline functionality is intended to help trekkers access trai...