Hotspot: Burudih Dam in Ghatshila

Ahoy tourist, let’s teach you how to fly.

The invitation is soon going to come from the state’s hotspot captain Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC), which plans to put the erstwhile Maoist stronghold of Ghatshila on the country’s aero-sports map.

The tourism agency proposes to use the abandoned airstrips in Chakulia and Dalbhumgarh in this East Singhbhum subdivision to promote sports like paragliding, hang gliding and ballooning to shore up its revenues.

Newly appointed managing director of JTDC Sunil Kumar said he was sanguine that the unique sports would bring adventure junkies to Ghatshila in droves. “Our aim is to revive tourism opportunities in Ghatshila, where rebel influence considerably reduced footfall (between 2006 and 2010). To achieve this goal we will start aero-sports at the Chakulia and Dalbhumgarh runways that were abandoned during World War II,” he said.

Also a former subdivisional officer of Ghatshila, Kumar stressed that the once rebel bastion had great potential to draw tourists from neighbouring Bengal round the year.

Built by the British in the 1940s, the airstrip at Chakulia was extensively used during the 1962 war with China and the 1971 war with Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh. The airstrip sprawls over 500 acres, while its main runway is 7km long and 70ft wide. It is strategically located near Jamshedpur and its lifeline, the National Highway 33. The Dalbhumgarh airstrip is a tad smaller, but can be an equally interesting sports arena.

“Promoting aero-sports is the best way to use these abandoned airstrips,” Kumar said.

Paragliding is the recreational and often competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders, which are lightweight, free-flying and foot-launched aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a hollow fabric wing. Despite not using an engine, paraglider flights can last many hours and cover many hundreds of kilometres, though flights of an hour or two and covering some 10km are more the norm.

Hang gliding is a close cousin. The glider fabric is shaped like a crude triangular plane that is supported by metal rods. It offers similar soaring pleasures as paragliding. Ballooning, on the other hand, is soaring on a basket or capsule carried by a buoyant airship.

Kumar said to ensure the safety of amateur tourists the JTDC was planning to tie up with professional agencies that could offer crash courses before the adventurous take-off.

Besides this added attraction to propel holiday spirits, Ghatshila boasts several picturesque tourist destinations such as Rankini Mandir, Burudih dam, Bibhuti Smarak Bhavan and Fuldungri hillock.