Timber Trail cable car got stuck in the middle of the way in Himachal Pradesh’s Parwanoo on Monday
Chandigarh and New Delhi:
Eleven tourists were trapped in a cable car that stopped mid-way in Himachal Pradesh’s Parwanoo on Monday afternoon. Seven of them have been rescued in the ongoing operation so far after three hours and counting of votes, officials said.
According to Solan district police chief Virendra Sharma, a rescue trolley was installed on the cable to evacuate the passengers. They were being lowered one by one using harnesses on a hill in the Kaushalya river valley below. The Superintendent of Police further told ANI, “The technical team of the Timber Trail Operator has been deployed and the police team is monitoring the situation.”
A team of National Disaster Response Force was also on the spot.
The Cable Car Timber Trail is a popular feature of the private resort, which is about 35 km from Chandigarh en route to Kasauli and Shimla. It is frequented by people from all over the region as Parwanoo is at the center of Himachal Pradesh along with Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh.
Right after the cable car got stuck, some elderly tourists among those trapped put up a video explaining why it was bad for them. “I am a diabetic and a kidney patient. They are saying the same thing over and over again – that we will be saved using the ropeway. We don’t deserve to be taken out like this,” said an elder.
Monday’s incident brought back memories of one Similar incident at Timber Trail in October 1992, when 10 passengers were rescued in an operation by the Army and Air Force; The cable car operator was killed.
The Indian Armed Forces had shared a post on their official Instagram handle a few months back which had three photographs from the time the rescue operation began. The first picture shows the cable car – with the Timber Trail Parwanoo written on it – hanging in the air. Another picture showed a tourist being escorted in an Indian Air Force helicopter, while the third picture had a group photo of officers and some rescued passengers.
At that time, before dark, only half the passengers could be saved. The team had to temporarily stop the operation but was able to evacuate the others the next day. The operator tried to jump to safety shortly after the cable car was out of control; But he died when his head hit the rock.