2 weeks Ago By Priya Kothari and Sandip Dighe
Pune: The popularity of adventure sports like zip line, paragliding and rafting has surged in recent years, yet concerns about safety continue to persist. The tragic incident at a water park resort in Pune district's Bhor taluka, leading to the death of a 28-year-old woman at a zipline tower, is one of the many accidents that have raised an alarm. "I am terrified to go paragliding or even for water sports now in India.
I am not sure if the operator is certified to give me a safe, enjoyable experience," said Dipesh Thorat, a resident of Mundhwa. Vaibhav Kala, senior vice president, Adventure Tours Operators Association of India, said improper safety gears, untrained guides and lack of adherence to guidelines are among a cocktail of factors that could cause an accident. "There is a need to create a national strategy for adventure tourism, and we are working with the Centre to introduce model laws.
The industry is largely self-regulated at this point, so there is a need to bring about better regulations," he said. Giving a proper briefing to each participant is a must, said the manager of a private adventure club on the outskirts of Pune. "If one is not fully ready, we do not force them.
We have set up a standard operating procedure for each activity to prevent any untoward incident like accidental fall," he said, adding that the maintenance of the equipment and set-up is very important. Authorities stressed the importance of safety measures and professionalism after the recent incident. Vikas Kharat, sub-divisional officer of Bhor tehsil, said it is the responsibility of the establishment concerned to take necessary safety precautions for their visitors.
"As such, the tehsil administration does not have a direct role in their functioning, unlike in the past when our permission was mandatory to run such businesses. But since it is related to the safety of the people, I will direct our officials to look into the matter." Many a time, visitors without knowledge and necessary physical fitness opt for such activities for fun.
"In any adventure activity, your approach has to be professional. One should accord the highest importance to safety before getting involved in any sport. In this case (at Bhor), we do not know what exactly went wrong.
It could be human error or any other factor; we will come to know in the investigation," said a senior police officer from Pune rural. Satyam Nighute, manager at Adventure Club Pune, said that before every tour they take all precautions such as ensuring that participants have adventure sports travel insurance. "We engage only those vendors who are certified.
We cancel activities if there is a risk of a natural calamity." Ramesh Bhuruk, who runs Fly Sahyadri Paragliding in Kamshet, said there are 15-20 paragliding pilots in the area and they are all certified. "We always carry a safety backup or a reserve parachute when we take people for the sport.
We also take into account the wind speed, direction, etc." Certification is not enough, there is a need for regulations in the industry, said Milind Bhide, founder and CEO, Countryside Adventure Holidays. "Such accidents are detrimental to the industry.
There should be guidelines for every adventure sport. It is also important to create awareness among people and operators of safety and how to mitigate risks." A manager with another adventure club near Pune said they offer seven adventure sports, including zip line.
"The capacity of our harness is 1,500 kg (the weight that can be carried to the other end). However, we do not allow individuals over 90kg to participate. It is only for safety reasons.
Our instructors are highly trained, and they carry out extensive checks and maintenance of each piece of equipment every week. If a particular machine has a minor issue, we stop that activity for a week, or until it gets resolved. Also, our instructors provide a proper briefing and debriefing before and after the activities.
If there is an issue with a particular participant, we do not allow that individual. The main task of the instructors is to encourage participants to enjoy each activity. However, if they feel that a participant is not fit physically or mentally, we do not allow them.
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