The Uttarakhand government has responded to allegations of irregularities in helicopter ticket bookings for the Kedarnath shrine, following social media posts by Char Dham yatra pilgrims. Officials have denied any wrongdoing and released official booking data to counter the claims.
Allegations by Bollywood Actor
The issue gained traction after Bollywood actor Hemant Pandey, who hails from Uttarakhand, claimed on Facebook that a friend from the film industry was unable to secure a ticket as all seats were allegedly booked within a minute of the window opening. Calling it a 'jaal of ghotala' (web of corruption), Pandey in a short video said that bookings opened at 6pm on April 15 but were exhausted almost instantly, raising questions over transparency. 'My friend had kept all the documents ready and started booking tickets at sharp 6pm but could not get it done,' he added.
Pandey further stated, 'We do not have hope from politicians, but officers like secretaries should probe the matter without any approval from CM and politicians. No order is required for such a probe. It is not sending the right message.'
Government Response and Data
In response, the state government released official booking data to counter the claims. Authorities said, 'On basis of the doubts raised over the ticket booking on social media and various modes of communication, the data was sought from IRCTC. The demand for the ticket is high and maximum tickets were booked in the first 30-35 minutes.' According to the figures, the first ticket was booked at 6:02 pm and the last at 7:28 pm, indicating that the process continued for over an hour. They added that a total of 31,450 seats were booked through 10,855 tickets during the window, asserting that the data does not support allegations of instant sell-out or manipulation.
Analysis of Booking Process
To review the online booking process, 565 random calls were made by the Tourist Helpline Call Centre, Uttarakhand Tourism. The analysis found that out of 10,859 mobile numbers used by passengers during IRCTC booking, 4,400 numbers matched actual travellers. Additionally, approximately 51% of bookings were made by travellers themselves, while the remaining 49% were completed through other means. Peak booking was recorded between 6:10pm and 6:32pm, with 849 bookings registered at 6:10pm and a notable increase in booking numbers observed through 6:32pm.
State-wise and Booking Details
According to state-wise data, the highest number of bookings came from Maharashtra with 1,708, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 1,243, Delhi 867, Telangana 864, Karnataka 801, and Gujarat 700. To maintain an orderly booking process, each user was permitted a maximum of two bookings and up to 12 seats. A maximum of five user IDs per IP address were allowed to make bookings, and a single booking could include a maximum of six passengers, enabling a total of 12 passengers to be booked by one user. Till date, cancellations have been recorded for 913 seats against 510 booking IDs.
