As paragliding fest draws to a close, expert flags safety concerns
The ongoing fourday International Paragliding Festival at Wagamon in Idukki will draw to a close on Sunday. The festival is jointly organised by the Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society (KATPS) under the Department of Tourism and the Idukki District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) with the technical support of the Paragliding Association of India.
KATPS chief executive officer Binu Kuriakose said this is the first time Wagamon is hosting a competitionlevel paragliding festival. “We received 107 registrations for participation while 75 participants were allotted a place in the competition. District Collector Sheeba George will distribute the prizes to the winners at the concluding ceremony on Sunday,” said Mr. Kuriakose.
Preeya Jain, a participant, said Wagamon is an ideal place for paragliding. “It is a nice experience to fly in the hill station,” she said.
Jobin Yendayar, one of the participants and a paraglider in Wagamon, said:
“The famed hill station is one of the few suitable places for paragliding in south India. Besides, the competition will help raise awareness of the practices and performances of the gliders from other States and countries,” he said.
Idukki DTPC secretary Jitheesh Jose said the festival will help spread the word on Wagamon as an ideal paragliding destination around the globe.
However, Wing Commander (Retired) U.K. Palat, a paratrooper and an adventure sports expert raised safety concerns over the landing space at Wagamon which is in use during the festival.
Landing space
“A paragliding site should have a reasonably large landing area below. In many cases, the top landing area may not be available to the participant due to turbulence, eddy effect, insufficient ridge lift, glider handling peculiarities of a particular pilot, etc,” Mr. Palat said.
“The number of landing accidents (6 in 2 days) reported in Wagamon in this event indicates this,” said Mr. Palat, who is a Shaurya Chakra awardee.