Jammu (Gulmarg) Cable Car Accident: 2 workers died and four injured.
News from NDTV and Greater Kashmir News:
Two workers were killed, and four others were injured on Sunday after a cable car of the Jammu ropeway project where work is going on, crashed during a mock rescue drill, days before it was likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said.
The crash took place due to some technical snag near Mahamaya temple, a police officer said.
The executing agency was conducting a mock rescue drill and due to imbalance, one of the trolleys carrying six workers fell down.
One of them, 45-year-old Rakesh Kumar from Bihar, died on the spot. The rest five – Hari Krishan (45), Manjeet Singh (32) and Lovely of West Bengal, Ravinder (30) of Uttar Pradesh, and Engineer Balkirat Singh (32) of Jammu and Kashmir – were rushed to Government Medical College hospital where Mr Krishan died, they said.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident and announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs. 5 lakh to family of those who died. He also directed the divisional administration to provide free medical treatment to the injured, an official spokesman said.
On the instructions of the Governor, advisor Khurshid Ahmed Ganai and Chief Secretary BVR Subramanyam visited the injured people at the hospital late on Sunday. The Chief Secretary also visited the accident site, the spokesman said.
The Jammu ropeway project, planned to boost tourism, is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 3.
The 1.66-km-long cable car project has two phases, first from Bahu Fort to Mahamaya Park and second from Mahamaya to Peer Kho over the Tawi river, with a total length of 1,118 metres.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah expressed grief over the deaths, describing them as most “tragic and unfortunate”.
In the Jammu cable car accident, wherein two labourers lost their lives, standard operation procedures (SOPs) were not followed during the mock-drill, reports said Tuesday.
Executive vice-president of Damodar Ropeways and Infra Limited (DRIL) said that the investigation into the incident is going on. “Police is investigating the matter. We cannot say anything in this regard until the investigation is completed,” he added.
However, reports informed that the SOPs were not followed while conducting the mock-drill ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit for its inauguration.
It added that as per the SOPs, while performing the mock drills, the executing agency needed to inform all other agencies concerned.
“The rescue trolley involved in the incident was meant for a maximum of four people, but there were six in it. Also, all people performing the mock drill should have worn headgear and had to be hooked onto the rope,” reports said, adding that no safety guidelines were followed during the mock drill, otherwise precious lives could have been saved.
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Featured Image: Gulmarg- Unsplash photo by Anjali Mehta. Jammu (Gulmarg) Cable Car Accident: 2 workers died and four injured.
