POKHARA, Oct 20: In the second week of December 2020, Raju Gaire, 38, died in a paragliding accident in Pokhara. Even before Raju, there were occasional paragliding accidents in the skies of Pokhara, but all of them were solo or trainee accidents. However, Raju had an accident during a tandem (passenger) flight, which was the first incident in which a pilot had died in a tandem flight accident.
After Raju's accident, a lot of questions were raised about paragliding in the sky of Pokhara. The pilot was also criticized for picking flowers and leaves and touching the water of Fewa Lake to make the passengers happy, entertain them and give an adventurous experience. Not only that, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) also took action against the pilot who was doing unnatural activities at that time. After the accident of the tandem flight, some restrictions were imposed on paragliding.
Another human casualty occurred in paragliding on October 16, Sunday. Nisim Thapa, a player from the Tribhuvan Army Club, died in a paragliding accident amid the 9th National Games going on in Pokhara. Soon after taking off from Sarangkot, Thapa crashed onto the ground. He died on the spot.
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After Thapa's death, CAAN, the regulatory body of Nepal's airspace, immediately decided to suspend paragliding until further notice. CAAN Spokesperson Jagannath Niraula said that due to Sunday's accident, paragliding has been suspended to study the existing laws and regulations until further arrangement. After studying the current situation, a decision will be taken as to how to operate the flights," he said.
The tourism entrepreneurs have claimed that the authority’s decision to suspend paragliding in the skies of Pokhara for an indefinite period to force it to move elsewhere is a hasty decision. The entrepreneurs have also warned that if the suspension is not removed within a few days, they will start a protest against the authority.
Secretary General of Nepal Paragliding and Hang gliding Association Sailendra Rawat said that if this suspension is not removed as soon as possible, they will protest against the authority. "Sunday's incident has added strength to the fact that there is an attempt to replace paragliding forever on the grounds of the Pokhara Regional International Airport," Rawat said. He added, "This problem has arisen because paragliding is not understood as a business and a sport."
He said that it is not pleasant to shut down the business indefinitely when there are about 400 flights a day during the tourist season and many guests are waiting to fly. At present, about 400 passengers are taking paragliding flights every day. The accident has been used as a pretext to force the closure of the tourism sector, which has been affected by Covid-19, when the pressure of visitors has given some relief.
