Adventure sports is not all that fun
Posted by Anantha | Posted in Adventure Sports | Posted on Monday, April 13, 2009
My friend and ex-teammate Satish called me up on SAT night around 8:30 and asked me to switch to TV9. News reader was reading out the tragic incident of Bhargava, who had met with an unfortunate death trying reverse Bungee jump near Bannerghatta National Park. For me name of the adventure club was as shocking as the incident itself. The flash news read, the Bungee jump was jointly organised by CARE* and Head Rush adventure sports club. Satish on the other end said, 'remember the name CARE?', I uttered in shock, 'Ohh shit..'.
I think it was nearly an year ago, Satish and me with few other friends had tried parasailing near Kolar, which was organised by the same organization, CARE. I remember it was an open field [I think it was a big lake before] where the event was organised. There was absolutely no ambulance organised by CARE, nor did they have any first-aid kits!! I don't even think they had valid license to conduct such an adventure sporting event that day also. More shockingly before the flight, each one of us signed a printed copy which stated**, 'I _____, hereby declare that I am fully aware of the risks and injuries caused by this adventure sports. Organisers are not responsible for any kind of injuries or mishap'!!!!!
We were given a demo by one of the professionals there and we blindly had signed that copy. How foolish were we to sign that! All of us had risked our lives for few minutes of adrenalin rush. Though nothing went wrong that day, but any thing could have happened....
No doubt these kind of organizers should be severely punished, I also insist Govt to conduct an investigation to verify the valid license of all the so called adventure clubs all over the state. I also would like plea to all the adventure enthusiasts out there not to try these adventure sports without adequate safety measures.
* careindia.in is shutdown. Expected eh..
** It is not the exact text, but that was the intended message
Just the previous day (on Friday) when we were returning from National park, we saw his board and thought Bungee jumping is one thing we have not tried yet.... (we've tried parasailing, etc, thouh not organised by CARE) and were planning for it sometime... And the next evening this news on TV!
We actually assume that all such places are licensed, they do have safety measures, we will be safe etc, etc, etc.... It's also a lesson that we need to verify things in detail (which is again quite difficult), before going in for such adventure sports....
I wonder how at all such a fake org exist all these days?
Sum,
I think all of us have this attitude of 'nothing is gonna happen to us' before trying out such adventure, forgetting that we could be that one unfortunate person out of thousands to meet with the mishap...
It was surely a lesson for guys like us, but sad that the lesson came across at the cost of life of Bhargava :(
This news was a bit of a shock to me too.
I am not sure every adventure location in the US has an ambulance either. So more than having first aid kits and medical things which are just cures, the prevention of such incidents is important by adequate testing and periodic replacements with good quality equipment, something I am not sure is done in India. Most organizers just think of it as a one time investment; the root cause I believe.
It is really shocking that such incidents keep happening even while we assume that safety standards are followed. But this incident is an eye opener for us.
About what Sum says that we have to verify things in detail, I remember one incident about Neeladri amusement park in ElectronicCity few years back. In front of the park there was one sign which said that they followed highest safety standards and they test it everyday and stuff like that. We enjoyed a lot that day. After few days, there was an incident similar to this and the park was shut down. It is indeed a tough task to cross check the standards ourselves.
@Deepak
Yeah I agree, these equipments should never be considered one time investment by the organizers.
I also prefer safety nets for bungee jumping over ambulance and first aid kits..
@Shashia,
Yes, we can not test/verify the equipments on our own..
I remember another such incident in Sammy's dreamland, near Yelahanka, which was newly opened then. Few were dead and many were permanently disabled when a giant wheel malfunctioned. After that Sammy's Dreamland was closed.
Yeah Man, that was scary. It was really unfortunate. However, I dread the after-effect now. Arresting the guys in CARE may be legally the best thing to do, but I do not really think that the govt. will endeavour to make adventure any safer.
I would be shocked to see if they pass a diktat to ban any such activities in the state/country. That would be the easiest thing for them to do. It would also be a completely lame solution.
The police, when asked about the incident, said that the organisers did not get their permission. My question to them is: do they have measures to check whether safety aspects have been taken care of? What good is their permission, which can be bought for a vad of notes?
@Kini,
Oh yeah.. no wonder if Appas/Acharyas/Gowdas in our state order to ban all such activities..
Yes man, police would be just content with the clamour in their pockets, not caring for the safety aspects...