5 Day Tehri Acro Festival begins
By Arun Pratap Singh
Tehri, 24 Nov: The International Acro Festival was inaugurated by Urban Development Minister Premchand Aggarwal and Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal, here, today. The five-day International Acro Festival is being organised from today till 28 November on the banks of Tehri Lake in Koti Colony here. About 130 pilots from India and abroad are participating in the Festival.
Participants will take off from the 1400 metre high hills of Pratap Nagar and land at Koti Colony located alongside the Tehri Lake. The Festival is being organised under the auspices of the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB).
Cabinet Minister Aggarwal, who is also the minister in charge of Tehri District, said that it is for the first time that an International Acro Festival is being organised on the banks of Tehri Lake. He asserted that the Union and the State governments are continuously making efforts to promote adventure sports activities in Tehri Lake. He added that the beautiful surroundings of Tehri Lake have immense potential for water and adventure sports. He reminded that cultural programmes are also being organised in the festival and would give an identity to the region on the world map and also generate employment opportunities. He stated that 43 trainees have been given training in paragliding in different categories ranging from P-1 to P-4 in preparation for the festival. He extended best wishes for the success of the festival.
He also spoke to the paragliders and extended good wishes to them and invited them to come to Uttarakhand again.
Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal said this region beginning from the hills of Pratap Nagar to the Koti Colony is the most suitable place for paragliding. It is the second highest location for an acro festival in the world. Uniyal asserted that, in the coming times, it would prove to be a favourite destination for adventure sports lovers. He added that there is a need to promote and hold events related to adventure sports in Tehri Lake on a regular basis. Adventure sports would become a means of increasing the economy of Tehri region. He revealed that 50 foreign players and 80 players from different places of the country are participating in the Acro Festival.
It may be recalled that the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) plans to make Tehri the world’s paragliding capital. The events lined up at the festival include Acro Flying, Syncro Flying, Wing Suit Flying, D-Bagging, etc.
Paragliding, in India, was first introduced in the 1990s but has only recently seen an increase in popularity, and there are several good paragliding destinations in the country.
