Junga in Shimla gets ready for flying festival after Himachal suffers from devastating floods

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], October 11 : The Junga suburbs in the North Indian hill resort Shimla are all set for the flying festival of paragliding o order to revive the tourism business in Himachal Pradesh after devastating floods.
The efforts are being made by the tourism stakeholders and the tourism department of the state government, organized by a special Shimla flying festival at Junga nearly 25 km from the State capital, Shimla.
It will commence on October 12 and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will open the flying festival in an attempt to draw the attention of the tourists and revive the tourism business after the natural disaster. The paragliding flying festival organizers are expecting over 100 pilots.
"After the recent rain damages have badly impacted the tourism business, we want to revive the business in the region. We are organizing the Shimla flying festival here at Junga near Shimla. The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh inaugurates this festival on the 12th and it will conclude on the 15th. We are expecting over 100 participants, we want to tell the tourists that the state and Shimla are safe now and they can enjoy the beauty and adventure here," said the organizer, Arnav Rawat.
The paragliding pilots have started coming and want to explore the new adventure destinations.
"It is good to be here, we are preparing for the flying festival and paragliding competition. This is a new site and it will help to promote tourism. Tourism was hit due to the heavy rainfall and now these kinds of festivals will help promote tourism. We are excited for the competition," said Shamsher Thakur, Paragliding pilot.
The local adventure enthusiasts here are happy to host the competition and they believe that this will help in tourism business promotion.
"It is good that this new adventure destination near Shimla has come up and a competition is being organized. It will be helpful for tourism promotion and will help for employment generation. I have been flying here for three years now and hope for adventure tourism promotion in the region," said Sanjay, a local youth and participant.
The participants coming from other countries are looking forward to the competition and are happy as new adventure sports destinations are being developed in the region.
"I am coming from Nepal and I am happy to be here near Shimla this is another adventure destination. We are looking forward to the competition during the next four days. I would recommend that everyone should come here to explore adventure apart from Bir Billing. We have this new destination near Shimla. This is a very good landing site and we are happy to be here and looking forward to winning the competition."
Bir is a village located in the west of Joginder Nagar Valley in the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Mostly referred as "Paragliding Capital of India", Bir is also a noted centre for ecotourism, spiritual studies and meditation. Bir is also home to a Tibetan refugee settlement with several Buddhist monasteries and a large stupa. While Billing is the takeoff site for paragliding and Bir village is for landing; collectively it is known "Bir Billing".
The tourists are now feeling safe and are happy to explore the new destinations.
"I have come here alone without any guide, I heard earlier there was rain and floods and people were not coming here. It is easy to access and the roads are good. Police are helping everywhere. I am very happy that I am flying in paragliding. I will stay here till the 12th and want to experience the fact that people will come here from different parts of the world," said Sanatuanil.
Earlier, in a video message, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister in a video message appealed to the tourists to visit the state as the situation was under control and said that most of the blocked roads had been restored.
Heavy rains battered Himachal Pradesh from June to September, causing damage to loss of life and property.