The high court on Friday directed the state government to submit an affidavit stating whether safety norms are followed in Bengal for adventure sports like parasailing and paragliding and what steps have been taken against illegal operators.

The affidavit, which has to be filed within four weeks, will also have to mention the places where "parasailing takes place illegally".

The division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued the order following a public interest litigation moved by an East Midnapore resident.

The petitioner has submitted that the authorities had failed to take action against the parasailing operator on Mandarmani beach, where a man died last month while doing the adventure sport.

Murshidabad resident Tarun Ghosh was killed when the rope that was pulling the parasail got entangled with a 100ft-high lamp post.

Ghosh plunged about 110ft to the beach and the post fell on him.

Bengal Adventure, which used to run parasailing on the beach, is co-owned by Satyabrata Khatua, a Trinamul leader and member of the local panchayat. The agency allegedly lacked the mandatory trade licence.

Officials said the government did not have safety guidelines or regulations for operators of adventure sports, which are run in various places in Bengal.

"There are no safety guidelines. We are framing a set of guidelines in compliance with the directives issued by the tourism ministry. There was no need for such guidelines because even till a couple of years ago there was hardly any adventure sport in Bengal," an official of the state tourism department said.

In Goa, which has a thriving watersports and adventure sports business, there are detailed safety norms. Marine police man the demarcated watersports zone to ensure operators do not run their boats in the bathing zones.

The safety guideline of the tourism ministry states that "parasailing operation must be carried out" from a marked area on the beach to avoid injury or disturbance to others.

"A stretch of 200ft must be clearly marked on the beach for parasailing. The area must have a notice board warning beach users to stay away during take-off and landing of parasailers," a tourism ministry official said. On the Mandarmani beach, there was no such earmarked area.

In addition to the driver, the boat or vehicle must carry an assistant to serve as a "lookout". At Mandarmani, officials said, the driver had an assistant but he lacked training and failed to warn the driver about the lamp post.

The petitioner's lawyer, Sabyasachi Chatterjee, said: "No administrative measures exist in our country to regulate operators of adventurous sports like parasailing. There is an urgent need for such measures."