2nd cable car incident at Timber Trail in 30 years

Solan,June 20

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It was the second incident in the past 30 years when the lives of 11 tourists were endangered after the shaft of a cable car broke midair at the Timber Trail Resort (TTR), near Parwanoo, today. The damaged shaft rendered the cable car inoperative.

Earlier, in October 1992, 10 tourists were stuck for hours after the haulage cable of the car broke and it started sliding backwards just before it was about to dock. The operator was killed after he jumped out of the cable car at an elevation of nearly 2,500 feet and his head hit a rock. The cable car had stopped midway and was hanging in the middle of the ropeway, just above the Kaushalya river. The Air Force and the Army carried out a joint operation to rescue the 10 stranded tourists. The services of the helicopter base at Sarsawa in Uttar Pradesh and the Para Commando unit at Nahan were taken to rescue them.

The wheels of the cable car got stuck and it could not move even an inch. The tourists were rescued by opening the escape hatch on the top of the cable car. The rescue team strapped each tourist one by one. The operation took two days; it was suspended on the first day as it was already sunset, recall officials who had served in Solan then.

BP Sharma, Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department (PWD), Ropeways, and Deepak Sharma, Chief Engineer (South), visited the TTR to take stock of the situation this afternoon, said a senior PWD official. They examined various factors to ascertain how the shaft was damaged. They also examined whether due maintenance of the ropeway was carried out, as per the protocol or not. They would also consider issues such as periodic conduct of rescue rehearsal, daily checks, besides annual, half-yearly and quarterly maintenance.

The officials said that another ropeway system was be installed after the 1992 incident as an additional safety measure. However, no such measure had been taken. The ropeway had remained closed for several weeks after the 1992 incident but was permitted to operate later.

Another ropeway was to be installed

• In October 1992, 10 tourists were stuck for hours after the haulage cable of the car broke
• The cable car operator was killed when he jumped out of it and his head hit a rock
• Ten tourists were rescued by opening the escape hatch on the top of the cable car
• After the 1992 incident another ropeway system was be installed at Timber Trail as an additional safety measure