Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today reopened the Gulmarg Gondola, nearly a month after services were suspended following a technical malfunction that left hundreds of tourists stranded.
The cable car service was shut down on May 25 after a technical snag stranded more than 300 tourists in Gondola cabins, triggering a major rescue operation involving the Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation, Jammu and Kashmir Police, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and army. All passengers were evacuated safely without any injuries.
Speaking after the reopening, Omar said the decision to resume operations was taken only after receiving an interim inquiry report and certification from the original equipment manufacturer, Poma.
“The interim report has come, and the Poma inspected the repairs and servicing. They certified our maintenance procedures, and only after they were satisfied we decided to restart the Gondola,” he said.The Chief Minister said the faulty gearbox had been replaced within the first few days after the incident and that services could have resumed much earlier.
“The gearbox was replaced on the fourth or fifth day. If we had wanted to restart operations quickly, we could have done so. However, we decided to wait for the inquiry and interim report before reopening the service,” he said.
Omar said tourism in Gulmarg remained resilient despite the temporary closure of one of Kashmir’s biggest tourist attractions.
“We feared that Gulmarg would become empty after the Gondola closed, but that did not happen. Tourists continued to visit, and tourism activity remained unaffected. With the reopening of the Gondola, we expect tourist numbers to increase further,” he said.
The Chief Minister also praised the rescue personnel and volunteers who played a key role during the May 25 incident.
According to Omar, around 52 gondola cabins were stranded on the cable line at the time of the malfunction, with more than 40 evacuated by volunteers and rescue workers, while the remaining operations were carried out with assistance from security agencies.
“Many of the people who did the real work were never adequately acknowledged. Today, I thanked them for their efforts,” he said.
He said the Cable Car Corporation had awarded a cash reward of Rs 50,000 to the rescuers in recognition of their contribution during the emergency operation.
Omar said that steps were being taken to regularise additional cable car workers. He said that six more workers were regularised and that the process would continue in a phased manner.
