India, June 23 -- The helicopter services to the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district have been shut until September with the monsoon arrival per the instructions from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

"The operators shut down their operations with the arrival of the monsoon session. The services will now resume in September in compliance with the directions of the DGCA," said Rudraprayag district tourism officer Rahul Chaubey, who is also the nodal officer for the chopper services to Kedarnath.

In 2024, helicopters made 22,804 sorties on the Kedarnath route during the Char Dham yatra (May-June and September-October). Until June 15, 2025, 8,786 sorties were carried out on the route, and the number was c...