Bir-Billing paragliding zone to be divided into green, orange, red areas for safety

The decision was taken during a meeting held at Baijnath in Kangra district on Wednesday, which was attended by foreign paragliders, representatives of paragliding associations, and officials from the district tourism department.

SDM (Baijnath) Sankalp Sharma, who also heads the Special Area Development Authority (SADA) Bir-Billing, said, “A proposal was prepared to divide the paragliding area into Green, Orange, and Red zones, enabling pilots to be aware in advance of safe flight paths and high-risk areas. From now onwards, all paragliders and pilots have been instructed to undertake long-distance flights in groups to ensure immediate assistance in case of any untoward incident. We have also directed that all pilots must compulsorily use tracking devices during flights so that their location can be instantly monitored in emergencies.”

Sharma added that the zoning decision was taken in view of recent and past accidents in which 18 paragliders have lost their lives over the past five years.

The Bir-Billing paragliding zone includes two main locations — the take-off site at Billing (altitude: about 2,400 metres / 7,874 feet) and the landing site at Bir (altitude: around 1,400 metres / 4,593 feet).

The flight offers a vertical drop of approximately 1,000 metres, set against the backdrop of the Dhauladhar mountain range in Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh.

District Tourism Officer Vinay Dhiman said, “Promoting tourism in Bir-Billing is a priority for both the administration and the state government, but it can only be achieved when all activities are conducted within the framework of safety and discipline. We observed paragliders take off from Bir-Billing and randomly land at undesignated sites on their choice and later fly from these sites which almost lacks take-off areas.”

Paragliding experts present at the meeting suggested that regular training programmes, weather forecast updates, and emergency rescue drills should be conducted for pilots. They pointed out that ignoring weather conditions remains one of the main causes of accidents, and every pilot must be briefed about weather warnings before take-off.

On October 27, an Australian paraglider identified as Andy (51) was rescued nearly 20 hours after crashing near the Seven Sisters Peak, located at an altitude of about 13,500 feet in the Manali subdivision of Kullu district. The paraglider had reportedly crashed due to air pressure and adverse weather conditions. A fellow pilot flying with him witnessed the accident and alerted the rescue team. Both pilots had taken off from Bir-Billing and were flying back when the crash occurred.

On October 20, a 27-year-old Canadian paraglider, Megan Elizabeth, who had taken off from Bir-Billing, died after crash-landing on a mountain. Between October 21 and October 28, at least three foreign paragliders were rescued after crash-landing in the high mountains of Kullu, Manali, and Chamba.

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