Srinagar, Jun 25: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday reopened the Gulmarg Cable Car project to the public, a month after a technical snag forced the closure of the popular ride to the upper reaches of Gulmarg.
Abdullah, who visited the Cable Car Project in Gulmarg, Baramulla district, North Kashmir, told reporters that Gondola services resumed after the project underwent necessary repairs and maintenance.
“Gondola is working now. The interim report has arrived. Services resumed after the original manufacturer certified the maintenance and service works, based on the report and the inspection of the repair work,” Abdullah said.
The chief minister said the government did not want to rush the reopening and ensured that all safety concerns were addressed and that due protocol was followed.
“The Cable Car corporation replaced the gearbox within four or five days (of the incident). We could have resumed the service if we had wanted to rush it, but we deliberately decided to wait for the interim report and inspection,” he said.
Officials said tourists can now book a gondola ride through the corporation’s official portal.
On May 25, the army, police, NDRF and SDRF launched a rescue operation after the Gulmarg Cable Car services, popularly known as Gondola, developed a technical snag, leaving more than 300 tourists and local guides stranded mid-air, he said.
Following the incident, the JK government formed a five-member committee on June 10 to investigate the circumstances that led to the malfunction of the Gulmarg cable car services. The committee was asked to submit a report within 10 days.
Regarding tourist arrivals this year, the chief minister said there was no shortage of tourists.
“Even as the Gondola remained closed, people still came here. We were apprehensive that tourists might avoid Gulmarg because of its closure, but that wasn’t the case. People came here, and tourism flourished. Now that it has resumed, we hope there will be an increase in tourist arrivals,” he said.
The chief minister thanked the people who worked tirelessly to evacuate the stranded tourists in the cable cars, and the corporation rewarded them with Rs 50,000.
“We managed to empty the cable cars. There were about 52 cars. Over 40 of those were emptied, and volunteers rescued the stranded. The army and police accomplished the rest of the job. The media gave credit to others, but no one asked about those who did the real work. Today I thanked them and Cable Car gave them Rs 50,000 as an award to appreciate their work,” he said.
