The Rudraprayag district administration in Uttarakhand has registered eight cases of fraud in providing air travel in the temple town of Kedarnath, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Parliament Wednesday.
There are many helicopter operators flying shuttle services from various helipads for the Kedarnath temple in the Mandakini Valley during the travel season, the minister said at the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question.
The helicopter operations to Kedarnath are governed by the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA).
When asked if there have been cases of black marketing of tickets and ticketing frauds in the pretext of providing air travel at the temple town, the minister replied, "The Government of Uttarakhand has received some complaints in this regard and the district administration thereof has lodged First Information Reports (FIR) in eight such cases".
He said the entire operation is monitored by the Rudraprayag district administration.
The District Magistrate (DM) of Rudraprayag has positioned one "Heli In-charge officer" at all helipads to keep a check on black ticketing, the minister said.
"Further, the UCADA had also positioned two officers at the helipad to monitor and interact with the passengers," the minister added.
Moreover, the Uttarakhand government has been contemplating sale of tickets for all helicopter operators selected by UCADA through Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) Limited or one of its own agencies on centralized distribution basis next year, Puri told the House.
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