A massive rescue operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg on Monday rescued nearly 300 tourists, who were stranded aboard the largest cable car at a Gulmarg resort,
after the cable car system developed technical problems, officials said. Operations of both phases of the Gulmarg cable car service, popularly known as Gondola, were suspended following malfunction, they said. There were no casualties. Officials said hundreds of tourists who were enjoying the ride, were rescued safely from the cabins by personnel of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police, and army. Restoration work on the cable car system is currently underway, they said. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the government was "closely monitoring" the situation. All cabins are intact and rescue operations to safely evacuate stranded tourists are underway with trained teams on the ground, the chief minister had said in a post on X when rescue mission was on. "The situation is completely under control and there is no cause for panic," he added.
Swinging into action, the Indian Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) had also joined the rescue operation at Gulmarg Gondola.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also applauded India’s disaster response forces for safely rescuing 300 tourists stranded mid-air in cable cars in Gulmarg, Kashmir. "The disaster response teams comprising the SDRF, NDRF, Army personnel, local police, and the administration swung into action and rescued all the passengers stranded in 65 cable cars through a six-hour-long operation. The nation salutes the forces for their valour and skill."
A while ago, a local said, "As soon as we got information, we reached the spot and saw that Gandola was not working. We helped in rescuing the tourists and later dropped them off at Gulmarg in our vehicles... At least 100 cabins are there, and 6 people sit in each cabin..."
Prior to that, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on said he had directed DGP Nalin Prabhat to proceed to the Gulmarg to oversee the rescue operation.
"I'm monitoring the rescue operation for tourists stranded in cable car cabins following a technical fault in Gulmarg. I have directed the DGP to proceed to the site. Joint rescue teams of Police, Army & SDRF along with DC and SSP are conducting the operation to ensure the safety of all tourists," Sinha posted on X.
On June 25, 2017 the Gulmarg Gondola had earlier witnessed an accident , when seven people were killed after a tree uprooted by strong winds struck a cabin, causing it to crash to the ground.
The cable car had also been temporarily suspended in January last year because of technical issues.
With inputs from PTI
