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Gruesome tragedy in Gulmarg

Kashmir Times. Dated: 6/27/2017 11:58:11 AM

J&K government needs to go for safety audit of all such facilities to prevent accidents in future and save precious lives

Death of seven persons including a family of four and injuries to several others in Gulmarg cable car accident on Sunday is both tragic and unfortunate. Apart from the four tourists, three guides also lost their lives in the unfortunate accident, when a pine tree reportedly fell on the cable of the Gondola when high velocity winds blew in the area. The saving grace was the rescue of more than 150 tourists and locals, who were held up in the Gondolas for many hours after the breakdown of the cables. It goes to the credit of the law enforcing agencies including the police and many tourist guides and locals, who put in their best for the rescue of the passengers in the cable cars on the towers and cables. It is creditworthy that the locals helped the police and officials of the cable car corporation in shifting the injured to the hospitals for timely treatment. Besides the active participation of everybody in the rescue operations, it is also appreciable that the emergency infra-structure for carrying out quick rescue operations was in place as result of which many precious lives could be saved. However, this promptness in rescue operations should not be used to cover up the criminal neglect that led to the accident in the first place.
This is for the first time that such an accident has taken place at Gulmarg Gondola project. The state government that has ordered a high level inquiry into the entire accident needs to review the safety of the tourists and other people who go for a ride in the cable cars. The cable car, which is extremely popular among the tourists and the locals, has been performing well since its inception in the 1990s in the new format with modern technology. The previous technology with which the cable cars were being operated had been worn out and needed to be replaced at the earliest. The inquiry committee needs to also probe how the trees, which are usually chopped off all along the route of the cable car, were left out and fell on the cables resulting in a tragic accident. A safety audit also needs to be carried out before the operation of the Gondola is restored in order to regain the faith and confidence of the tourists in such infra-structural projects.
The onus of carrying out a speedy and time bound probe into the entire episode rests on the state government, which owns the Cable Car Corporation that has been operating this facility for the past more than two decades. Seeing their popularity, the state government has initiated more such cable car projects in various parts of the state for convenience of the tourists and local, which can be revenue earning units. Lessons should be learnt from this single accident so that recurrence of such tragic incidents can be prevented. The present inquiry should not be allowed to meet the same fate as previous probes into accidents where reports are dumped on the shelves of the offices and everything is forgotten. In the case of road accidents, the suggestions and corrective steps made in the reports have not been implemented as a result of which people have lost more lives in mishaps in the state than in the strife-torn Kashmir valley during the previous years. But in the case of cable car operations, such irresponsible behaviour cannot be tolerated because there is high risk of loss of life and property in the event of an accident. The state government also needs to go in for safety check and audit of all such facilities. Corrective steps should be initiated at the earliest besides restoration of cable car operations in Gulmarg.