Month before Jharkhand cable car accident, audit warned: Keep watch on rope

The report recommended that the rope should be kept clean and protected from corrosion. “Special attention may be given…as the rope is more than seven years old. If any abnormality is noticed, rope may be replaced immediately,” it said.

The report, titled ‘Evaluation and advice on the present condition of haulage rope of detachable grip monocable passenger ropeway of Trikut Pahar, Deoghar Jharkhand’, was prepared by Dhanbad-based Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR), which functions under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

CIMFR has been conducting the safety audit on the ropeway for the past four years, and the latest report was submitted to the state’s tourism development corporation.

The audit is based on a field visit conducted on March 17, and the report was presented by D Basak, chief scientist and project coordinator, Wire Rope and Electrical Engineering, CIMFR, along with Samchak Waghmare, technical officer.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Basak said: “The 24 flaws which were found remained insignificant. I would have flagged problems in the ropeway if we had found any. It seems the problem was with the structures surrounding the rope. But the safety test we conducted included only the steel rope of the ropeway.”

CIMFR has been conducting the safety audit on the ropeway for the past four years, and the latest report was submitted to the state’s tourism development corporation.

The ropeway is operated by Kolkata-based Damodar Ropeways and Infra Ltd. The company’s general manager (commercial), Mahesh Mohata, said “maintenance work is part of the daily routine”, and that the incident occurred due to “slipping of the steel rope from the shaft”.

“It is a unique incident. We have been operating in various states and this has never happened before. Our engineers had reached the spot but could not work on it as it was too risky. I really don’t know what exactly caused this, and it is a matter of inquiry,” Mohata said.

On Tuesday night, Chief Minister Hemant Soren ordered the registration of an FIR on the incident. He also announced Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the three victims and said the state will fund the treatment of all the injured.

Meanwhile, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to chief secretaries of states on the need to have a detailed SOP and contingency plan on ropeway operations.

Bhalla wrote that “for operations and maintenance of ropeway projects, BIS standards have already been prescribed, which need to be scrupulously adhered to”. “The state government must engage an experienced or qualified firm or organisation for the safety audit of each ropeway project,” the letter stated.

At the accident spot, the two-day rescue operation following the incident on Sunday evening ended on Tuesday afternoon even as a 60-year-old woman fell to her death as she was being winched up to one of the two IAF helicopters on duty — the second such fatality during the rescue.

ADGP R K Mallick said 14 of the 15 people who were stranded in the cable cars overnight were rescued. A total of 60 people were rescued from the ropeway leading to Trikut hills, which is a popular tourist spot.

Of the two other victims, another woman had succumbed to injuries sustained inside a cable car on Sunday while a 40-year-old man fell to death while being hauled up to a helicopter on Monday.

On Tuesday, the IAF posted on its official Twitter handle that its Mi-17V5 and ALH Mk III helicopters flew 28 sorties over 26 hours during the rescue operation. “35 passengers from 10 cable cars were evacuated in this extremely challenging operation. IAF deeply regrets the loss of two lives during the rescue missions,” it posted.

Deoghar Civil Surgeon C K Shahi said the woman, identified as 60-year-old Shobha Devi, was declared “brought dead” in hospital.

Jharkhand Tourism director Rahul Sinha said the rope had come out of its shaft on Sunday evening, which led to 24 cable cars getting stalled midway.

Another government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “One assessment said there was no issue with the rope. Another assessment of the structure, such as pulleys, was also satisfactory. The actual cause will be a matter of investigation but prima facie the tension of the wire appears to have played a role.”

Amitabh Kaushal, principal secretary, state disaster management department, said: “We will order a technical inquiry into the incident to ascertain the exact cause of the incident.”

In Deoghar, a board displayed at the ropeway control room stated that apart from annual, half-yearly and quarterly maintenance, a daily maintenance check has to be done. The board stated: “Rehersal of the rescue operation to be conducted every three months.”