Uttarakhand MLA among 60 stuck mid-air on ropeway for 45 minutes, rescued


At least 60 people, including a BJP MLA from Uttarakhand were stranded mid-air in a cable car for 45 minutes due to a technical snag. All 60 have now been rescued from the cable car stranded in Surkanda Devi Temple ropeway in Tehri district.

“All the passengers have come out safely and the ropeway is now running smoothly. No passenger is trapped in the trolley,” Tehri Garhwal SSP Navneet Bhullar told ANI.

In a similar incident that took place in May, pilgrims visiting the hilltop goddess ‘Sharda’ shrine in Maihar town of Satna district in Madhya Pradesh were rescued about an hour after they got stuck in cable cars.

In June, a total of 11 people were stranded for hours after a cable car was stuck mid-air at Parwanoo Timber Trail in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district. They were rescued after a six-hour-long operation undertaken by the NDRF and other agencies.

Earlier in the day, the NDRF began a nationwide survey of passenger cable cars and ropeway systems to find out possible security flaws in them and to prepare a structural blueprint.

“We have begun a survey of all the passenger ropeway and cable car systems in the country to understand their operations and suggest remedial action. There are more than 50 such systems in India which are used for transport of pilgrims, tourists and passengers,” said NDRF Director General (DG) Atul Karwal.

“The aim of the exercise is to not only sensitise the operators of this mode of transport about the precautions they should practise and preparations they should have, it will also give us an action plan which can be used during emergencies and disasters that hit the ropeway system,” he added.

(With agency input)

READ | Tourists stuck on cable car in Himachal’s Timber Trail resort rescued after 3 hours



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