A proposal is being developed to install special towers in the highlands to locate crash sites – ABVIMAS director

A proposal to install special towers in high mountains to locate crash sites is under development, an official said on Saturday, days after three foreign paragliders were rescued from the mountains in Kullu district after crash landing. Avinash Negi, director, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS), Manali, said there is a need for more safety features to protect people involved in adventure sports, especially paragliding.

This comes after a 10-member team from ABVIMAS safely rescued three foreign paragliders who took off from Bir Billing in Kangra district on Thursday. Due to strong winds, they lost their way and made an emergency landing in the mountains of the Kullu region.

Paragliders fly with a device that sends distress and emergency landing alerts to operators, but GPS-enabled devices connected to a satellite give vague locations (50-100 meters) that could be critical to saving lives, the expert said .

“A proposal is under consideration to install special towers in high mountains to locate crash sites in case of accidents,” Negi said.

Meanwhile, three foreign paragliders, including a woman identified as Michael from Australia, Gabrielle Greg Collins from New Zealand and Rosie Durwood from the United Kingdom, who were stranded in the mountains of Himachal’s Kullu district, were safely airlifted on Friday, an official said.

They said Karnik and Rosie were injured in the incident. However, this is not the first time an emergency landing has occurred. In February, a woman tourist from Hyderabad died after falling from a height while paragliding in Dhobhi village in Kullu district. In December 2022, another 30-year-old tourist from Maharashtra, Suraj Sanjay Shah, died after falling hundreds of feet due to a technical glitch while paragliding in the Dobhi area of ​​Kullu.

A total of 130 paragliders from 50 countries are expected to take part in the World Paragliding Championship 2024 to be held at Bir Billing in Himachal’s Kangra district from November 2 to 9.