Ranchi (Jharkhand): The rescue operation was being carried out under the supervision of Amitabh Kaushal, secretary of the Jharkhand disaster management department, tourism secretary Rahul Sinha, and ADG R K Mallick. These top-ranking officials from the state government were camping at the spot. Prima facie it appeared that there was a lack of coordination between Central and state agencies engaged in the rescue mission.
When asked on what terms and conditions the Damodar Ropeway Infra Limited was roped in to operate the cable cars on Trikut Hills in Deoghar district of Jharkhand, the district magistrate (DM) Manjunath Bhajantri, said, "I didn't have any knowledge about it." On the other hand, Jharkhand Tourism Minister Hafizul Hassan said that in 2007, the Damodar Ropeway Infra Limited had set up the facility on Trikut Hills. Earlier, it was being operated by the Jharkhand Development Tourism Corporation for two years. But, the tourism corporation handed over the responsibility to Damodar Ropeway company a Kolkata-based firm to run the facility." When asked whether the agreement with the Damodar Ropeway had lapsed, to which the minister said, "We keep on renewing the agreement with the company and the deal has not expired."
Between 2020 and 2021, when Covid-19 cases were surging, the operation of the ropeway was halted. When asked why the FIR was not lodged after the occurrence of such a major mishap, in a reply to which the Jharkhand minister and DC said, the government's priority was to evacuate stranded people safely. Now, steps will be taken in this direction.
The Trikut ropeway was the only facility in Jharkhand where tourists can cover a distance of 750 meters from the ground to atop the hills in five to ten minutes. The ropeway facility has a combination of 24 trollies and four persons can be accommodated in one cable car. The fee for one seat is Rs 150 and for booking a cabin one will have to pay Rs 500. Damodar Ropeway a Kolkata-based company operates the ropeway. The company is also running the ropeway facility at Hirakund, Chitrakoot, and Vaishno Devi. General Manager (commercial) of the company, Mahesh Mehta, said, "We are also probing the incident at our level."
