Paragliding accident near Manali kills 30-year-old tourist: Beware to repeat these mistakes

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A 30-year-old man allegedly died after falling while paragliding in the Dobhi area of Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district on Sunday.
Suraj Shah and Pilot were rushed by the local people to Kullu Hospital, where Suraj was declared brought dead.
A case of negligence has been registered under Sections 336 and 304A of the Indian Penal Code.

A 30-year-old man died after falling during a paragliding expedition in the Dobhi area of Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district on Sunday (December 25). When the paraglider was in the air, his safety belt reportedly buckled, causing him to fall to the ground.

The deceased has been identified as Suraj Shah, a tourist from the Satara district of Maharashtra. Suraj had come to visit Manali with his friends. Kullu Superintendent of Police (SP) Gurdev Sharma said on Sunday that the police received information that a person had fallen from a paraglider while flying at a high altitude in the Dobhi area. The pilot is safe but the tourist died on the spot. “Investigation has been initiated and a case has been registered against the pilot under sections 336 and 304A of the Indian Penal Code,” he said.

In Himachal Pradesh, there have been reports of incidents of death and injuries during tandem paragliding. Sometime back a 12-year-old boy from Bangalore died due to an accident near Bir Billing paragliding site. After which, taking cognizance of the incident, the Himachal Pradesh High Court banned paragliding and all other adventure sports activities in the state in January this year.

The court ordered the formation of a technical committee to inspect adventure activity sites. During the inspection, most of the equipment was not approved by the technical committee and many operators had deficient registrations. Only those operators were allowed in April who could fulfill the required parameters. Many local operators disregard weather and wind speed when flying illegally from disallowed locations. Some also used old equipment as old equipment is available at a cheaper rate.

As we know that nowadays the hill station is heavily crowded and this is the only time for the local people to earn money. Various adventure activities are offered by many small and big companies in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and other tourist places. It is advised to check the company, pilot, and driver’s license before starting your bargaining and also you should check their equipment quality.