Man who lost son in paragliding mishap meets Himachal CM, says safety facilities need to be improved

A man from Punjab who lost his 23-year-old son in a paragliding accident in Himachal Pradesh's Solang Valley in May met Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and urged him to improve safety facilities at all adventure sport locations.

Inderbir Sobti, a hotelier from Punjab, asked Thakur to ensure paragliding, ropeway and other similar adventure-themed services were safe.

Speaking to PTI after meeting the chief minister on Wednesday evening, Sobti said he and his family met Thakur at his official Oakover residence.

Sobti lost his son Amandeep, 23, to a paragliding accident in Solang valley on May 18.

He rued the absence of "proper emergency medical attention" in his son's final moments.

"My family was shaken by Amandeep's death. We wish nobody else should to go through the same. So, we have vowed to create awareness about the lack of medical facilities at adventure tourism sites and started a petition at change.org," he added.

In just a month, Inderbir's petition has been endorsed by over 1 lakh signatures.

While submitting his petition to Thakur, Sobti said, "One lakh people request you to protect tourists in Himachal Pradesh."