Ropeway probe begins, one more dead

The Gujarat government today started probe in Sunday8217;s Pavagadh ropeway accident even as one more person succumbed to his injuries. A t...

The Gujarat government today started probe in Sunday8217;s Pavagadh ropeway accident even as one more person succumbed to his injuries.

A team of Forensic Science Laboratory FSL experts from Ahmedabad as well as the chief electrical inspector from Lifts and Escalators Department of the Gujarat government has been conducting a probe into all the aspects of the cable car crash.

Minister of State for Home Amit Shah has asked the ropeway operator, Usha Breco Ltd, to explain its manager8217;s statement after the mishap that 8216;8216;sabotage could not be ruled out.8217;8217;

Today, teams from the Forensic Science Laboratory and the L.D. Engineering College in Ahmedabad, the Chief Electrical Inspectorate in Gandhinagar, and the Gujarat Engineering Research Institute, Vadodara, inspected the ropeway.

Usha Breco staff explained operations to the team. Maintenance manager Rajesh Prasad said the trouble started at the upper station. He said the haulage cable powering the ropeway jumped a sheave. In the process, a device keeping the cables taut broke.

8216;8216;This resulted in a wave running along the rope which flung about all the carriages,8217;8217; Prasad said. 8216;8216;We don8217;t know why the rope jumped.8217;8217;

Panchmahals SP Narsimha Komar, however, said he would not comment till investigators submit report. 8216;8216;The forensic team, engineers, and electrical inspectors are all investigating. We have asked them to expedite work,8217;8217; he said.

Story continues below this ad

8216;8216;Till then, we have instructed the company to keep the accident site as it is8230; We have registered a criminal case under various sections of IPC against Usha Breco.8217;8217;

Minister for Law 038; Pilgrimage Centres Ashok Bhatt said that Usha Breco had been asked to suspend ropeway service at Pavagadh and Ambaji till they are both inspected and cleared for safety.

Bhatt said a proposal for a 8216;8216;ropeway implementation act8217;8217; would be put forward before the government at the earliest. He said as a precautionary measure the ropeway that leads to the famous Ambaji Temple in Banaskantha district has also been stopped till a thorough maintainance check is conducted.

Seven persons, including two women and a five-year-old boy were killed and nearly 45 injured when three of the ten cable cars of the 700-m-long ropeway, leading to famous Mahakali Temple atop Pavagadh mountain, collapsed on Sunday.