Timber Trail cable car in Himachal’s Parwanoo resumes operation; was halted after mishap in June

Ambika Sharna

Solan, October 8

Cable car ropeway at Timber Trail Resorts near Parwanoo finally resumed operation last evening after 110 days following a nod from the state Tourism Department. The operations were halted after a cable car got stuck mid-air leaving 11 tourists stranded for hours on the ropeway on June 20.

The state government has, however, held no one accountable for the mishap. No penalty has been imposed on the resort after a technical committee absolved the management of negligence.

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

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

Sixteen tourists travelled in the cable car in four batches on the first day, confirmed resort’s director Rajiv Kapil. He said the ropeway became functional after 110 days last evening. Kapil said being an off season the rush was yet to pick up though more visitors were expected to travel in the weeks to come after the festive season.