Migratory birds fly down to Pong

           Dharamshala: With the onset of winter, thousands of migratory birds have reached Pong lake in Himachal Pradesh. Around 60 species of migratory birds including bar-headed geese, earget, cormorant, saurus crane, little greb, river tern, yellow guls, pallar guls, black guls, European roller and common pochard are nesting in the wildlife sanctuary near the lake.

          Bird-watchers in the area expect at least 100,000 birds this year. "Last year 140,000 migratory birds were counted here. They started arriving in October start. Till now an estimated 50,000 must have arrived," Arvind, a bird watcher, said. Every year, almost 220 species of migratory birds arrive at the sanctuary during the winter season, which is also the peak tourist season. The nearby Kangra valley also attracts bird watchers and tourists. Tourism, which generates more than five billion rupees annually, is the mainstay of the economy of the mountainous Himachal Pradesh.

Bir takes over as best option for paragliding (Go To Top)

          Range (HP): The paragliding pre-World Cup competition has begun in Himachal Pradesh in a run-up to a possible hosting of World Cup. Bir valley in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh has been emerging fast as a paragliding destination over the years. Around 28 pilots from countries like England, France, Germany, Russia and Spain apart from India are participating in the five- day event. India alone will see participation by 15 pilots. It will feature dare-devil paragliding tasks as out-and-return distance, gain of height and distance over a triangular course. A separate set of tasks for hobby-pilots has also been organised for amateurs to try their skills with professionals. A pilot from the United Kingdom, Louis Bronaham, said that there is a lot of potential for such tournaments as conditions are very conducive.

          "There is a lot of potential for distance here, the conditions are really good and the weather is really good, which is quite unusual, you fly everyday, which is very good for the competition. There are quite a few different reefs so you can fly up and down the valley," he said. The Director of Himachal Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation, Upma Chaudhary, said that the government plans to promote adventure tourism in a big way as conditions are right for such sports.

           "The government wants that this state should be, in the near future, developed as an adventure destination. Out here conditions for sports like skiing, heliskiing, paragliding, river rafting, are naturally very conducive. There are natural resources, there are natural sites. The government has made a beginning," she said. The tournament will also hold several attractions for tourists who can learn different aerobatics from veteran paragliders in the natural splendour of the Himalayas.

          The Bir valley in picturesque tourist resort of Manali is emerging as the number one place to offer paragliding. Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir has, of course, been the best but with the 14-year old separatist violence raging in that atate, Bir is fast taking over as a dream destination in South Asia for paragliders from all over the the world. Paragliding started in India in 1995 but it was only in 2001 that the state decided to regularise the sport and exploit the tourist potential.

-ANI