PVT paragliding schools in Bir-Billing are instructed to cease operations

Officials from the Tourism Department have requested private schools in Bir-Billing that employ seasoned paragliding pilots to close as there are no state regulations governing these kinds of operations.

The people in charge of the schools claim that the government is not involved in marketing the paragliding location at Bir Billing. Adventure seekers from the area and a few international paragliding pilots, who began hand-and-paragliding here in 1985, made the discovery.

The paragliding pilots, who also operate tandem flights for tourists and run paragliding courses at Bir-Billing, said that Bir-Billing’s current ranking in the top 10 paragliding sites worldwide is a result of the combined efforts of foreign and local paragliding pilots. Since the state lacks regulations governing the registration of paragliding schools, world-renowned and seasoned pilots with more than 20 years of paragliding expertise are operating paragliding schools in Bir. These pilots have taught the majority of pilots that paraglide in the state and have helped Himachal become known as a global paragliding destination.

According to Vinay Dhiman, the District Tourism Officer (DTO) of Kangra, a paragliding pilot recently met his demise in an accident. Investigating further revealed that the pilot was receiving instruction from a private institution. “We discovered that no private paragliding school has been permitted to operate in the state by the government. We asked the state tourist agency to clarify whether or not pilots are permitted to operate training schools. We have chosen to shut down the paragliding schools because the government has not responded, he said.

When asked whether there were any regulations governing the registration of paragliding schools in the state, the DTO said that none existed as of yet. But he said that the government was planning to establish a paragliding pilot training center in Bir.