Himachal: Record paragliding flights fuel tourism boom in Bir Billing

Bir Billing, the world-renowned paragliding destination in Kangra district, is witnessing one of its most successful tourism seasons in recent years, with a sharp rise in visitor arrivals boosting local businesses and adventure tourism activity.

For the past three days, around 300 pilots have been operating daily, conducting nearly 500 tandem paragliding flights every day — the highest number recorded during the last three years, according to local stakeholders.

The surge in tourist arrivals has provided a significant fillip to the local economy. Hotels, restaurants, taxi operators and other tourism-related businesses are benefiting from the increased footfall, while local traders remain optimistic that the tourist rush will continue until the end of June.

However, the growing popularity of the destination has also brought infrastructure challenges to the fore. Heavy traffic congestion is being reported on the narrow 3-km road leading to the paragliding landing site at Chogan.

Residents say frequent traffic jams are causing inconvenience to villagers, schoolchildren and patients visiting healthcare facilities who depend on the same route for their daily commute.

Speaking to The Tribune, local residents said traffic management in the valley deteriorated further during the recent panchayat elections when police personnel were deployed on election duty and withdrawn from regular traffic regulation duties.

As a result, vehicle movement on the route was adversely affected and congestion increased considerably. Residents said similar traffic snarls have become a routine occurrence on the Bir-Billing road during the peak tourism season. Locals and visitors have urged the administration and police authorities to introduce effective traffic management measures. Suggestions include declaring certain stretches as one-way routes during peak hours and deploying additional personnel to regulate traffic flow.