SRINAGAR, May 26 : More than 300 tourists were safely evacuated after a major technical malfunction left 65 cabins of the Gulmarg Gondola stranded mid-air, triggering a seven-hour multi-agency rescue operation amid heavy rain, officials said.
The glitch halted Asia’s highest ropeway around noon, suspending both phases of the service and leaving some passengers dangling nearly 500 ft above ground. Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Army’s Chinar Corps worked together, using ropes and ladders to bring people down one cabin at a time.
Heavy rain complicated the operation, and technical extraction protocols for cabins suspended at great height prolonged the effort. By late afternoon, 179 tourists had been brought down, with the remaining passengers evacuated in subsequent phases. Officials confirmed all stranded persons were evacuated safely.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said his government was “closely monitoring” the situation and urged calm, adding that all cabins were intact. Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, local MLA Farooq Ahmed Shah and senior officials visited the resort to coordinate the response. Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha directed DGP Nalin Prabhat to proceed to Gulmarg to oversee the rescue.
The Army praised the swift, coordinated response by the Chinar Corps and partner agencies. The Gulmarg Gondola has had prior technical halts, and officials noted a major 2017 accident in which seven people died after a cabin was struck by an uprooted tree.
