Tourists in panic as cable car gets stuck

Tourists at Nandankanan Zoological Park had a mid-air scare when the cable car got stuck on Oct. 25. About two dozen visitors had to remain in a state of fear before being brought to safety. The rope-way operation has been suspended following the incident by the zoo management. The incident occurred at 1 pm. There were two cabins carrying about 24 tourists on the rope-way facility which connects the two ends of Kanjia lake.

 According to eyewitnesses, the rope-way came to a halt mid-way all of a sudden. As it did not move further after sometime, the visitors got panicked. There were children inside and the suspended position left the family members apprehensive. As soon as this matter came to notice of the cable car operators, they tried to fix the problem. Deputy Director of Nandankanan Zoological Park, Siba Narayan Mohapatra, said the problems persisted for 15 minutes while some tourists alleged that it lasted longer.

The cable car operation in the zoo has been outsourced to Kolkata-based Ropeway Resorts Pvt Ltd. The zoo authorities said the cable car operation has been suspended in the aftermath of the incident. A technical committee of the Forest Department will inquire into the incident and look into the safety certificate before giving the nod for operation, sources said. The rope-way facility originally had three cabins one of which developed snags a few days back and was removed. Earlier, the cable car was under the direct management of the zoo and had developed similar snags a few times. Later, the service was outsourced.

Source: New Indian Express