A lot of progress has been made on the Adventure Policy in the sept 2020 GR
But a lot more need to be done . These are our thoughts
PS we are just observers over the past 15 years .
Page 2
3. The following categories of organizers:
3(8). Individuals who organize adventure activities
Over the past 4+ years we have seen trekking organisation moving from the cities to the base villages . Where the base village guides now advertise on facebook and instagram on their own and bypass the city organisers . So 3(8) needs more detailed sub sections.
Pg 3
Temporary Registration is mandatory for all Adventure Activities.
using certified equipment, trained staff, all required infrastructure and following Safety Guidelines.
Those observing the waterfall rappelling will know that these points are not available to some organisers .
page 3 will have to apply for Temporary Registration by paying a fee of Rs. 1000/-
page 6 :- A fee of Rs.3,000/- for the Final Registration Certificate must be paid for
each category of Adventure Activity (such as Land, Air and Water). This
means that if an applicant is registering for only one out of the Land, Air
and Water activity, he will be charged Rs.3,000/- as registration fee.
2. If the applicant is applying for Registration for more than one adventure
medium, he must pay a fee of Rs.6,000/- (for two media) or Rs.9,000/- (for
three media).
This is not going to be costly to those experienced trekking who are starting their own organisation and also the base village organisers/guides.One of the reason is the thin margins they keep and also a huge number of organiser are almost broke and could pay this amount after organizing a few treks and getting customers.
temporary registration certificate will be issued by the Office of the Director
No clarity yet on where exactly do the organiser go for registration. Also it will be very difficult for the base village organiser .
Application must be made with attaching
the following documents.
- Shop Act License
- IT Returns
looking at the list of Trekking groups in Maharashtra this would leave out a large section of the trek organizers who do all their organizing from their mobile phone .
Page 6 Individual participants as well as those organizers who are actually present at
the site of adventure activity must have adequate insurance cover.
Pg 11 Organizers that promote adventure activities through social media and
conduct such activities also must follow process of registration.
Organisers conducting adventure activities without registration / in an
unauthorised manner are liable for penal action.
Pg 13 It is essential that the adventure tourism service providers shall have
full time experienced, efficient, trained staff.
pg 14 The organisers shall also arrange
for sufficient insurance cover for field workers, guides and other
professionals concerned with the adventure activity.
pg 15 It is mandatory for the adventure tourism service provider to have
a list of the nearest dispensaries / list of doctors.
pg 18 Organization should form a Risk Management Team comprising of
experienced members to look at all the aspects of risk management.
pg 19 Mail Runners, in case of very remote locations for quick communication and reporting
Pg 19 Contact numbers of nearby Medical centers, Medical professionals,
Government authorities (Police stations), Rescue teams / organizations, transporters
I do not think these database (pg19) exist . Most needs government help to compile . Please share if they exist
Pg 23
Participants fitness Certificates & medical history from Registered Medical Practitioners, personal information like blood group, allergies, emergency contact details etc.
These are important but i dont think 99.9 organisation have these records. Also do these breach the privacy of the individuals ? maybe with the new government health stack( all india medical online database it could be possible in the future)
pg 24
Organization should define process of communication within and with external agencies (Police, media, public and government agencies) in Emergency situations.
I do not think this is possible without the government help to get all this information .
pg 25
It is recommended that the organization should issue written Work Orders to its Service Providers for outsourced Services. The Work Order should clearly specify
pg 30 It is important that all the members of the Mountaineering mission are qualified enough to take the initiative in this endeavour. The primary training certificate issued by national training Institute will be considered sufficient for the same.The leader of mountaineering institute should have adequate qualification accredited by National
Mountaineering Institute.
Though desirable . It will need local training options and government grants
pg 30 The tools used for mountaineering and trekking must be UIAA certified or accredited by Indian Mountaineering Institute.
pg 159 Climbing and mountaineering Equipment - Technical details
pg 32 The below Table can be used by Organisations as a reference to arrive at its own Leader to Participant ratio for each Adventure Program it conducts.
This need to be modified to local ratios?
pg 38-40 Guideline for Leave Minimum Impact & Leave No Trace Seven Principles
Good but dont know how many follow or event know about them as of sept 2020
pg 42-47 Safety Guideline for All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)
PPE required for Leaders and Participants, and other equipment
needs to be modified for local conditions ?
pg55-78 trek guidelines (need to take a more close look)
pg 79-82 camping guidelines
pg 83 Safety Guideline for Basic Rock Climbing
pg 90 Safety Guideline for Pinnacle Climbing
pg 98 Safety Guideline for Rappelling (Dry Surface)
pg 104 Safety Guidelines for Waterfall Rappelling
pg 109 Safety Guideline for Permanent Ropes Course
pg 120 Safety Guideline for Temporary Ropes Course
pg 130 Safety Guideline for Valley Crossing / River Crossing
pg 136 Safety Guideline for Permanent Zip Line
pg 146 Safety Guideline for Caving or Cave Exploration
pg 154 Safety Guideline for Wildlife Safaris
Chief Leader to have current certification in Wilderness First Responder / Wilderness Advanced First Aid & CPR from reputed organisation
pg 165 TEMPLATES & FORMATS FOR LAND-BASED ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES
pg 172 Sample Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Rappelling on a 90 ft. cliff
pg 177 Sample Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Waterfall Rappelling on a 100 ft. cliff
pg 183 7. Lost Person Protocol
pg 189 ANNEXURE -C SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR WATER-BASED ACTIVITIES
pg 228 SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR AERO ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES
pg 290 Equipment - Storage, Maintenance and Inspection
The documents needs to be separated into 3 parts land /water/ air / as a lot of the pdf is irrelevant to the trekking community .
Final thoughts . It is good start . but needs a lot of support from government , incentives for first aid courses ,incentives for other training .
