Billing take-off site lacks basic facilities for tourists

Despite that more than 25,000 paragliders and tourists fly solo or take tandem flights here every year, world famous take-off site Billing lacks basic facilities. Billing ridge located at a height of 2,400 metres from the sea level doesn’t have proper eating joints or restaurants or even public conveniences for visiting tourists. It also lacks proper parking place for the vehicles bringing in paragliding pilots and tourists. The area faces traffic jams during peak tourist season. There is hardly any facility for budding paragliding pilots to train before taking off to the skies.

In the name of facilities at Billing take-off site, a few temporary kiosks have been put up by the locals. Sources say that the Tourism Department has not been able to bring up facilities at Billing as the entire area at the take-off site is forest land.

Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) RS Bali, when asked, said that a case for transfer of forestland in the name of Tourism Department has been sent to the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests. Once the permission is received, the Tourism Department plans to develop a parking place and a restaurant for the facility of paragliding pilots and tourists coming to the area.

While the take-off site at Billing is bereft of facilities, the landing site at Bir has its own set of problems. Rapid constructions have taken place near the landing site which pose threat to paragliding pilots landing here. The state government has formed Special Area Development Authority (SADA) for Bir Billing to check illegal constructions.