Ahead of inauguration by PM, 2 killed in Jammu ropeway crash

JAMMU: The prestigious tourism project of Jammu ropeway witnessed a major tragedy on Sunday, only two weeks before its scheduled inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when a cable car of the under-construction project crashed during a mock rescue drill, killing two workers and critically injuring four others.

Governor Satya Pal Malik has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident and announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs five lakh to the next of kin of those killed.

The trial run of the cable car project started today as the project is scheduled to be inaugurated by PM Modi during his visit to the state on February 3.

According to preliminary information, Damodar Ropeways Cable Car Corporation-- the executing agency was conducting a mock rescue drill and due to imbalance, one of the trolleys carrying six workers fell down.

During the trial, one of the cable cars got detached and crashed, resulting in injuries to all six of the workers.

One of them, 45-year-old Rakesh Kumar from Fitter in Bihar, died on the spot.

The rest five -- Hari Krishan Yadav (45), Manjeet Singh (32) and Lovely—all residents of West Bengal, Ravinder (30) of Uttar Pradesh, and Mechanical Engineer Balkirat Singh (32) of Trikuta Nagar, Jammu -- were rushed to the Government Medical College.

Later on Hari Kishan succumbed to his injuries at GMC Jammu.

The crash took place due to some technical snag near the Mahamaya temple this evening, a police official said.

Governor Satya Pal Malik ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident and announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs five lakh to the next of kin of those killed.

“Governor Malik has expressed grief over the loss of precious lives in Jammu Gandola trial run mishap at Mahamaya this evening in which two labourers lost their lives and described the incident as tragic and unfortunate.

“The Governor has prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls and sympathised with the bereaved families.

“The Governor has also announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh to the Next of Kin of those killed in the mishap. He also directed the divisional administration to provide free of cost medical treatment to those who were injured in the mishap.

“The Governor has ordered a magisterial inquiry to be conducted to know the causes of the incident,” an official spokesman said.

On the instructions of the Governor, Advisor Khurshid Ahmed Ganai and Chief Secretary B V R Subramanyam visited the injured in the Hospital late this evening and wished them a speedy recovery.

The Chief Secretary also visited the accident site and took stock of the situation. He directed the Police to sanitise the entire area to prevent any further mishap.

The Jammu ropeway project, planned to boost tourism in the winter capital, was among the various projects worth Rs 35000 Crore which were 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.

Announced way back in 1995, the blue print for this project was first prepared in 1995 and initially the cable car was to take off from Mubarak Mandi, but after the declaration of Mubarak Mandi and Bahu Fort as heritage sites, the project had to be relocated. The foundation stone for the project was laid on February 24, 2014.
National Conference President Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Omar Abdullah expressed anguish and grief over the death of two persons in the incident, describing it as most "tragic and unfortunate".

They conveyed their condolences to the bereaved families, prayed for peace to the departed souls and wished speedy recovery to the injured, a spokesman of the party said.

In a separate statement, National Conference Provincial President, Jammu, Devender Singh Rana sought a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge into the incident
Updated On 1/21/2019 1:32:20 PM