Today an engineer from Chennai aged 25 died in a bungee jumping accident in Bannerghatta, Bangalore. The organizers were of Care Adventure run by a Mr. Sheshadri who claims to be a retired army guy or something to that effect.
Apparently the bungee cord snapped and the guy plummted to the ground, sustained head injuries and died on the way to the hospital. The place was totally devoid of any medical facilities and fall back option in case of emergencies. The victims friends had to take him to the hospital themselves and I suppose it was too late and the guy died enroute.
Typically these people running these set ups are not licensed by any regulating authority. Further such adventure activites are not something that has been around in India since long not for that matter something that is practised consistently. So its obvious that there is no regulating body to check the equipment and skills of the operators running these shows.
In fact my friends and I had a bad experience once with (I think) this exact same guy Sheshadri from Care Adventure. This was around 4 years back when 6-7 guys from my team went to Hoskote on a parachuting adventure. We were strapped with a parachute on our backs and we were pulled by a jeep. Once we reach a good acceleration we are lifted off into the air and after a couple of minutes of flight, we are pulled back down.
So 3 guys took the plunge and executed it successfully and then came my chance. I had to start off by running as the jeep accelerated. We were not given any useful instructions prior to the ‘flight’ and I was running behing the jeep dragging the heavy parachute behind me. Supposedly the wind changed directions and after a couple of seconds in the air I fell back down and was dragged a few tens of meters. Anyway, I had the guts for a second try (seriously cant understand why I felt like doing it a second time, I was shit scared enough the first time) and this time I almost closed my eyes and ran like mad – left, right, right, left, left, and whatever direction the wind (rather, the jeep) pulled me. I was even running until I was atleast 10 meters in the air. The flight was good and I landed safely.
Next was the time of my friend. He had the same problem as me, of the wind changing direction, but with disasterous consequences. There was a thorny scrub at least 7ft in height on the field and he was pulled right into it. The tree doubled over with his weight on it and needless to say, the surgeon pulled out at least 4-5 thorns from deep within his hands measuring at least 2 inches each. He was plastered all over his body and hands and legs with these thorns, but thankfully his face was spared as he shielded it with his hands.
We gave a piece of our mind to this Sheshadri before we dashed off to the hospital. These guys have a bond signed by the participants that they are not responsible for injury or death due to circumstances arising out of the adventure. If you take such a bond, then you also have to be sure to provide high quality equipment that minimized the chances of such risk. I mean who ever has heard of a bungee cord breaking during the jump. Isn’t it supposed to take the weight of 8 men and shouldnt it be checked for faults before each leap?
Anyway, now other than grevious injuries, Care Adventure have a death on their hands now. I do hope they learn a lesson and I hope the government authorities look into this issue and cancel all their licenses for further adventure activites and whatever action possible against them.
Edit: From today’s paper reports, it seems that the cord did not snap, but in fact it was the hook that attached the cord to the safety harness that came undone. Some also report that the safety harness used was at fault. Additionally, it was not Care Adventure which was organizing this event. They were one of the facilitators in charge of bookings. The event was organized by HeadRush Bungee run by a Sachin Venkateshiah. I think this was the guy through whom I did rapelling last year and back then he would have used this very same hooks to strap me and my friends on. Scary.
Update: Just rememberd an incident that my friends had during a recent rafting outing to Dandeli. They went in 3 rafts with a trainer in each. During one of the rapids, the trainer himself fell overboard and my friends had to go through the rapids without any experienced personnel on their raft. Luck was on their side, so nothing happened, else it would have been really bad had they hit a rock or overturned in the rapids.
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28 Comments
I know sachin very well, he did everything in a hurry. I thought, he was greedy. There was no back up!! Very bad, people are looking for sheshadri, but sachin is the actual culprit. Shesahadri was marketing it! Head Rush and Care will obviously be prosecuted!
We need to be more careful now.
Hey, Prashu.
I’m not trying to play the devil’s advocate here. In fact, I’m deeply disturbed by what happened today, since I was planning to jump (for the fourth time) tomorrow morning. Last month, I did two jumps at the same venue that this mishap occured, and noticed that safety was taken seriously.
From what I saw in the news, this mishap occured because of a snapped hook, not the cords. There are two cords attached to a person’s body – one on the feet and the other (backup cord) at the waist, for safety reasons. Probably the hook underwent a lot of fatigue, since there were way too many participants. (I went there yesterday and had to return back since they were overbooked. From what I know, 100 people tried bungee jumping on Friday and another hundred were slotted for today. Could be a case of equipment overuse, but all we can do is speculate.
Care India didn’t organise this. They are merely booking agents (like BMC) for Head Rush Bungee (headrushbungee.com), who organised this event. I am angered by the carelessness shown by Care India (how ironic a name) in your parachuting adventure.
All said and done, I don’t think my fourth bungee jump will be done in India. It’s highly, highly tragic to hear about this. Hope Bhargava’s soul rests in peace.
-Sumeet
Hey Prashant
Shocked to hear that news. I ’was’ planning to visit the same place recently. What could have been just a weekend fun /adventure activity turned out to be a very tragic accident. It awful that safety measures taken for granted. We’ll see lot of media attention and soon it will be forgotten. “
Hey Sumeet,
Yup, you are right. It was not the case of the cord breaking but of the hook fatigue as per todays news. But again, the hook has to be tested, pulled and checked before each usage. This is a fatal sport and there has to be a thorough testing before each jump. If they cannot handle testing between each jump due to overbooking, then they shouldnt be booking that many in the first place. And if CARE is the booking agent then they are also to be blamed.
Btw, the guy did a normal bungee and died while going for a reverse bungee. In the normal bungee, as you said there are 3-4 harnesses and straps attached to the legs and waist, but for the reverse bungee it seems there was only one hook to the left leg and no other harness. That is outright stupidity.
Yup, as you said it will soon be forgotten and this event will not lead to any good. A few bribes thrown here and there and the case will not be pursued any further. Seems these guys didnt even take police permission before conducting this event. Obviously they have done such events before and they know what rules are in place and how to break them (bribes obviously).
Man i was planning to go to this very event today. I was searching the address and BAM ! I stumble upon this article.
I wonder why these goons play with others lives. people go to them with a trust and to have a good time. But just look at what has happened. The guy lost his life. Only 25 years old. And what is his mistake?
It seems that for now, it is better not to do such activities in our country than to end up losing our lives.
Hi Rohit,
Luck was with you that you felt like doing this today and not yesterday. Seriously, its scary the way these guys operate in India. Its time the govt set up a body to regulate such organizers especially since such sports are gaining in popularity in India.
My group also went for the bungee jump on friday. right from the time we reached the venue we saw only unprofessional behaviour and bad management. 1) Though we reached at 11.30 with prior "booking", we were given a waitlist number of 75-80. Our turn came only at 5.30-6.30 in the evening because of this. 2) In the afternooon, they told that the lunch break would be only for 40-45 minutes for the organisers but the complete activity was halted for almost 2 hours keeping loads of people waiting who had paid and were waiting for their turn. 3) For our group of 5 people, when the last person’s turn came, it was already dark and they were using the night lights. Just as he was supposed to hop into the crane, the generator went out of diesel. The show had to be stopped for complete 30 minutes before one of the organizing team member went and got the diesel. They didint have any spare and were not at all prepared for this outage
What happened with Bhargava is highly unfortunate and going by the highly irresponsible way the event was organized, it could have happened to any of us!!!! The orgazniers should not be allowed to walk out easily after playing so casually with people’s life.
was there any certificate for the products they used?
did they do the quality check before conducting this shitty jump?
did the get the approval from any sports organisation or the cops?
let me know who the team is which conducted the jump, from wer they got the cord and all the details regarding purchase of the equipments, the rate for which they purchased etc…….fuckin A, extreme sports is no JOKE, not to make money by killing lives……..wat da fuck wud it take to buy brand new hooks or straps for this fun……A LIFE?
GUYS N GURLZ, provide me the info bout the company…….this should not again happen in India wer there are many professionals in extreme and adventure sports lately. Thanks a ton
As per paper reports, they didnt take police permission even, before conducting this event. And I dont suppose they have any certificate of their eligibility as there is no body in India that can give out such certificates.
Care adventure has their website at http://www.careindia.in/ but their site suddenly seems to be down.
Headrush bungee have their site at http://www.headrushbungee.com/home.htm and its working for now.
Having had such a bad experience one would have just walked out on them except for the fact that one has paid so much money already. Its especially irritating when they ask one to sign bonds that absolves them of all mishaps that occur on their watch. First they should prove that they are capable enough before getting people to sign such bonds.
I know sachin very well, he did everything in a hurry. I thought, he was greedy. There was no back up!! Very bad, people are looking for sheshadri, but sachin is the actual culprit. Shesahadri was marketing it! Head Rush and Care will obviously be prosecuted!
Hi,
Can you tell me more about care and sheshadri?
i was planning a trek with them in july….now i have second thoughts….or are my fears not justified?
Hi Sam,
Care and Sheshadri have been around since a long time. They regularly organize treks and other activites. However after the bungee incident, I would stay away from their adventure sports offerings such as bungee jumping, rapelling, rafting, parasailing etc.
The trek and wildlife outings are quite safe and you can go for those without concern. However from todays reports, I heard that Mr. Sheshadri has been arrested, so do check out if they are still conducting these events 2 months down the line.
There is another adventure club called Ether Ventures. You can check that out too.
Hi Pranesh,
Thanks for the feedback. I’m sure the future adventure enthusiasts will read such feedback and avoid going to these unprofessional clubs.
Hello, I work for the International Mountaineering and Climbing federation. We are working on safety issues for such equipment (harnesses). This year we plan to publish various info items on the use and disposal of such equipment that is subject to use over time.
Please be a part of this movement to weed out unprofessional people in such business. You can leave your comments on our Facebook group called UIAA – Union Internationale des Association d’Alpinisme.
We can prevent more unfortunate events in the future by sharing about such event organisers who can be brought to the book for not following standards.
Gurdeepak Ahuja
Hi when it comes to goinging with anybody here is the checklist probably you can look at
5. What are their first aid certifications
St.Johns first aid certificate, or Wilderness Medicine Institute( No.1 in the world) whether trained in wilderness First Aid OR Wilderness Advanced First Aid OR Wilderness First Responder OR Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician OR Paramedic etc Note they should be re-certified or renewed every two years check on validity
6. What is the technically competence of the person with relevant certifications
7. Ensure that the said person is with respective organisations and will be 100% present in the program for most of the organizations will bluff and name a professional who will not be there on the program at all, and also ensure the relevant skill set is there for relevant activities e.g a mountain certificate will not work for parasailing or rafting
8. as it happened in bungee it could happen because of over usage of equipment hence ask for the log of equipment before you get involved to any activity and cross check manufacturers recommendation on usage of such equipment, insist your operator to provide all the details before you get in which is very very important for ones safety.
9. Check the history of the people you are going with if one use this check point I dont think there should be anything to worry about going with any organisation to any activities
Dear Swaroop
We are professional with experience of 18+ years running outdoor company who thinks we are responsible for people accompanying us on outdoor programs, at the same time when we go and speak to corporate clients about our certifications and standards which we have, as you have mentioned, which clients also feel happy, but when it comes to the cost factor of services people dont want to pay which we quote. Do you think these certifications comes free of cost? or have you tried to find out what each of these course costs? now who is to blame?
Garbage In- Garbage Out!!!!
Manjunatha
Ace Paddlers Pvt Ltd
http://www.acepaddlers.com
Sheshadri is not at all aqualified person in aersports or any such activity as he claims in his website. He is not a retired army person or any thing. Whatever that is said in his website is bullshit. He is got some political back-up and that works very well in a country like India. He is already out on bail!!!!.
Sheshasdri is not a qualified person in any of the activities he claims in his website, He is not a retired army person or anything. Everything he says in his website is bullshit. So, guys be careful, he is got a strong political back up , that works very well in India and he can getaway with anything!!!!
Sheshadri is not at all aqualified person in aersports or any such activity as he claims in his website. He is not a retired army person or any thing. Whatever that is said in his website is bullshit. He is got some political back-up and that works very well in a country like India. He is already out on bail!!!!.
Manjunatha,
You are going out of context here, I will still blame you if an accident happens due to technical failure or mistake on the part of Organizer.
Here is my reply to your inarticulate concern.
1) what the certifications and courses cost – be it ( I doubt if they are costly). i dont think it is primarily important.
2) You can definatley passdown the equipment charges to participants, ensuring that there is a regular check on their state with checks from beyond your experianced eyes.
3) You can also passdown your professional services charge for your expert skills, the one which you use to carry the activity for each individual participant ensuring his safety.
2 & 3 are all that we need for a safe adventure activity without any accident.
i dont think we need 1 to avoid an accident, you need 1 to increase your business as a adventure PROFESSIONAL.
Garbage man is the one who overlook 2 & 3, the rest is upto you.
Thanks
Sandeep Bhagyawant
9833717385
Dear Sandeep,
Its easy to say that you can pass down the cost, Have you ever tried to picth an outdoor program to a client, we have to hide costs under various disguse to pass it off.
I have met clients who have refused doctor & insurance coverage to save money, we have not spent years together in field doing time pass it hurts when you put in the effort to get the required cerificate & experience & its not apprecited or paid as organisation wants "CHEAP" labour & not professional most times.
one needs to be in the industry to know these.
Its asy for people to say get certifications or do this or do that. try doing it.
ask peole who have had an accident free record how difficult it is.
Thanks & regards
hi can any one plz tell how much does bunjee jumping cost in bangalore
Hi Sandeep,
While I agree with you that many clients want to get away cheap at the cost of playing with their lives, I dont agree that you use this as an excuse. If say, something goes wrong and someone is injured or dies, then will anyone blame your client? They will catch you and your organization and make it hell for you.
Its up to you to force the customers to pay for their own safety. The problem is that one organization cuts costs and lowers their charges and to stay in competition, the rest do so too. This is not accepted and is the reason why a governing body should be formed. Probably even a Union of all the adventure sports organizations would work.
What do you think?
Hi Sharan,
Bungee jumping in Bangalore costs anywhere between Rs. 500 and Rs. 800 depending on the height and the organizers and the type of bungee jump(normal, reverse, etc.)