None punished, Parwanoo ropeway restarts operations

Solan, October 8

The cable car ropeway at Timber Trail Resort restarted operations yesterday — after a gap of 110 days — following the nod of the state Tourism Department.

Interestingly, the state government hasn’t held anyone accountable for the incident in which 11 tourists were stranded for hours on the ropeway on June 20. A technical committee has absolved the resort management of any negligence.

The five-member committee, headed by a Superintending Engineer of the Public Works Department, had inspected the ropeway and had suggested rectification of certain defects, including replacing the old shaft. The modifications were certified by experts from IIT Roorkee after a safety audit.

The expert committee had sent a recommendation to the state government to open the ropeway to the public, following IIT Roorkee’s recommendation. The decision to open the ropeway was conveyed to the resort management in the afternoon yesterday, following which it was made functional last evening.

A total of 16 tourists travelled in the cable car in four batches yesterday, resort’s director Rajiv Kapil said. To assure visitors, a 1.26 minute video highlighting the in-house evacuation process is being displayed on a LCD screen at the boarding point.

Opens after 110 days

The HP Govt hasn’t held anyone accountable for the incident in which 11 tourists were stranded mid-air for hours on the ropeway on June 20