Last Sunday, Goa woke up to disturbing news of two young lives being lost in a paragliding accident at Keri. Shivani Dabale, a 26-year-old tourist from Pune, and paragliding pilot Suman Nepali, who was just a year younger, fell to their deaths on the Keri-Pernem plateau after one of the cables of their paragliding equipment snapped soon after take-off. For many, the tragedy evoked haunting memories of the drowning of a Pune-based tourist off Calangute beach on Christmas Day after an overloaded boat used for dolphin sighting capsized 60 metres off the coast.
As with the Calangute drowning case, the government's reaction to the Keri tragedy was hardly reassuring, with the tourism department declaring that no permission for paragliding activities on the Keri plateau was granted in the first place. The Mandrem police arrested the owner of the company through which Dabale went on the ride for illegally conducting such operations from atop the plateau. These developments, however, beg the following questions: Were the government and its allied agencies blissfully unaware of the 'illegal' activity all this while? And did it only take a tragedy for the authorities to wake up and act?
The tourism department's statement, “We are saddened by the tragic loss of lives in this incident and express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The department reiterates its commitment to ensuring that all tourism-related activities in the state adhere strictly to safety regulations and licensing norms,” also did not carry much weight, with many citizens viewing it as just one part of the whole charade to act concerned while doing nothing at all to ensure that such situations do not recur.
Yes, the department, in its official communication, went on to urge tourists and operators to "ensure that only licensed and authorised services are utilised to prevent such unfortunate incidents in the future", and that "an inquiry will be conducted and strict action will be taken against those found responsible for the unauthorised operation". Not surprisingly, however, there have been reports of Keri having three licensed paragliders while four others conduct operations illegally with the alleged blessing of the local police force and the tourism department itself. Most not only fail to oblige with the rules and regulations in force, according to reports, but, shockingly, the tourism department never checks the porosity of paragliders.
Simply put, porosity is the measurement of the amount of time it takes for a certain volume of air to pass through the paraglider canopy fabric. If a paraglider doesn't meet the standard time, it should either be retired or cut on the lines of what neighbouring Nepal does if the equipment fails the test. In Himachal Pradesh, such paragliders are destroyed entirely. But in what is most alarming, reports claim that paragliding operators in Goa use paragliders that have been retired in Nepal and make their way to Goa, that too right under the government's nose. If this is not blatant flouting of rules and risking human life and limb, what is? And why is the state government and its allied agencies so nonchalant when Goa depends so heavily on tourism to sustain its economy?
Interestingly, the Keri village panchayat had itself passed a resolution that paragliding was not required within the jurisdiction of the local body. However, no action was taken after that, the sarpanch claimed.
There have already been complaints from stakeholders, particularly along the North Goa coastal circuit, that the current tourism season is a far cry from the ones the state has seen in the years bygone. Add to it loss of lives due to unlawful and unregulated adventure activities and the attacks on tourists at beach shacks, and it is all but certain that Goa is set to lose its reputation as a holiday destination altogether.
Quick, decisive and consistent action from the government is what is urgently required if we are to salvage at least some part of Goa's tourist appeal.