Dehradun, April 16 -- The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) has tightened safety measures for the upcoming Char Dham pilgrimage season beginning April 19, introducing steps ranging from reduced flight operations to deployment of weather experts and command centres, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. The move comes after a spate of helicopter accidents during last year's Yatra. In 2025, five helicopter-related incidents were reported on the Char Dham route within less than 40 days. In one of the major accidents in June 2025, seven people were killed when a helicopter carrying pilgrims from Kedarnath to Guptkashi crashed near Gaurikund in Rudraprayag district, raising serious concerns over flight safety. Officials said companies whose helicopters were involved in accidents last year have been barred from operations this season, with a fresh tender process conducted to select operators. A high-level review meeting involving officials from the ministry of civil aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI), and UCADA was held on Wednesday to assess preparedness and compliance with safety directives before granting clearance for heli operations. UCADA chief executive officer Ashish Chauhan said, "A video conference was held under the chairmanship of the chief secretary and the secretary of the ministry of civil aviation to review compliance with directions issued by DGCA and the Union ministry of home affairs for heli operations on the Char Dham route. The preparedness was found satisfactory." Chauhan said operations will continue with a 30% reduction in flight frequency. Command centres will be fully operational at Sersi in Rudraprayag and Sahastradhara in Dehradun. Two temporary air traffic control (ATC) units will be made operational, while work on permanent ATC infrastructure will begin soon. "To strengthen monitoring, 33 PTZ cameras are being installed at helipads and other critical locations to provide real-time updates, including weather conditions. Six air traffic control officers and two AAI personnel will be stationed across Kedarnath, Badrinath, Sahastradhara and Sersi," he said. The authority will also deploy officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) are being installed and additional very high frequency (VHF) communication systems will be used, officials said. Among other measures, slope correction work is underway at Kedarnath, helipad expansion is in progress at Badrinath, and designated flight routes are being published. Marker balloons are also being installed on high-tension power lines to improve visibility. "We have selected eight companies through a fresh tender process. Operators whose helicopters were involved in accidents in the past two years have not been allowed to participate," Chauhan said. For pilots, a minimum of 1,500 flying hours, including 750 hours in mountainous terrain, has been made mandatory. Additionally, pilots must have logged at least 100 hours of hill flying in the current year and completed a minimum of 10 take-offs and landings in the Kedarnath valley. "No pilot will be allowed to operate without terrain familiarisation in the Kedarnath valley," Chauhan said. Operators have also been directed to keep an additional helicopter on standby, while UCADA will ensure regular maintenance checks and adopt a common ground-handling system. "DGCA will independently monitor compliance with standard operating procedures. Its team will also conduct trial flights with each operator without passengers to assess safety," Chauhan added....