Delhi paraglider goes missing in Himachal’s Bir-Billing

Kangra authorities said the pilot, Rohit Bhadoria, has been residing in Chowgan village near Bir for the past few years.

A solo paraglider pilot from Delhi has gone missing in the mountains overlooking Kangra district’s Bir-Billing on Friday, prompting the authorities to launch search and rescue operation.

Hundreds of foreign and domestic tourists head to the valley for paragliding every summer and autumn.

Kangra authorities said the pilot, Rohit Bhadoria, has been residing in Chowgan village near Bir for the past few years.

Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati said Bhadoria took off from Billing around 12.30pm Friday and was last seen flying around the Big Face peak, which is more than 4,000 meters high.

“There has not been any contact with him since then and it has been reported by his wife that he is not carrying any global positioning system (GPS) device or wireless radio,” said Prajapati.

His family requisitioned a private helicopter on Saturday for the search and rescue operation, but there was no trace of Bhadoria till Saturday evening, Prajapati said.

The DC said the state government has requisitioned an air force helicopter for the search operation after the family sought help from the administration as they were unable to bear the expanses of the private chopper.

He said a police team has also been deployed but an on-foot search would be difficult as his last location was at a high altitude where mountains are covered in snow.

Bir-Billing is among the world’s top ten paragliding sites. Located at 2,325 metres above mean sea level, Billing serves as the take-off site while the landing site is in Bir village, a small hamlet famous for its sprawling tea gardens and Tibetan monasteries.

Hundreds of foreign and domestic tourists head to the valley for paragliding every summer and autumn. However, the valley is equally dangerous due to the unpredictable weather conditions. Pilots, sometimes, get knocked off the paraglider by strong winds, while sudden rain quickly weaken the thermals causing gliders to crash land. Around a dozen pilots have been killed in Bir-Billing area over the past decade. A French pilot was killed there last November.

Bir-Billing has hosted half a dozen paragliding pre-world cup tournaments and a world cup tournament in October 2015.