Lt Colonel jumps off from TV tower in Delhi

New Delhi: In first of its kind ‘legal’ attempt in the country, one of the Lt Colonel of the Indian Army jumps off from the Pitampura TV tower on Friday morning.

Lt Col Satyendra Verma, an experienced Skydiver and team captain of Army Adventure Skydiving team, carried out the first Base Jump in the country from Pitampura TV Tower from a height of 158 meters at 0625 hrs on 29 October 2010.

Base Jump is one of the activities being promoted by Army.  It is an form of Freefall, where an experienced Skydiver jumps from a fixed object (Building, Antenna, Span (Bridges) or Earth Cliff) instead of a flying machine.   It involves use of a specialized parachute which is particularly manufactured to ensure faster and more reliable openings.

Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali, Sena Medal, the Director General of Military Training, under whose aegis this activity was executed, stated that presently, the Army is imparting training in more than 17 various fields of adventure, that include Mountaineering, Sport Climbing, White Water Rafting, Paragliding, Paramotoring, Skydiving and Land Yachting”.

The General further stated that Lt Col Satyendra Verma’s feat today is part of 25 glorious years of Army Adventure Wing. It will send a message to the youth of the nation to undertake such challenging activities and encourage them to join Army.

In the near future as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of  Army Adventure, more such activities are being undertaken like Skiing to South Pole covering a distance of 1170 kms, an expedition to the sixth highest mountain of the world Mount Manaslu and a Microlight flying expedition to the length and breadth of the country.