Gulmarg Gondola To Remain Shut For Now French Team To Arrive For Technical Audit

The Gulmarg Gondola, Asia s highest aerial tramways in North Kashmir s Baramulla near LoC, is expected to remain suspended for more time than expected as the experts from the French engineering firm Pomagalski (POMA) are expected to arrive in Kashmir for a tec... The Gulmarg Gondola, Asia’s highest aerial tramways in North Kashmir’s Baramulla near LoC, is expected to remain suspended for more time than expected as the experts from the French engineering firm Pomagalski (POMA) are expected to arrive in Kashmir for a technical audit of the cable car in the next two days. The cable car was hit by a technical snag on May 24, stranding more than 300 tourists mid-air for hours in 65 cabins, prompting a massive seven-hour multi-agency rescue operation by teams of J&K cable car corporation, army, police and other rescue agencies. The authorities then on May 25 suspended its operations for a week to either replace or repair its 3.6 tonne gearbox and conduct a two pronged inquiry - one by internal committee of J&K cable car corporation to find reasons for the fault and another by French engineering firm Pomagalski (POMA) - the original builders of the project- for a technical audit of the project. As the weeklong suspension deadline ends, Syed Qamar Sajjad, managing director of the JKCCC, indicated that Gondola opening may take some more time. “No final call has been taken for its opening. Once it is done, we will issue a notification,” he said. He said that the installation of a spare gear box was still underway. “I can’t give a tentative date for installing the gearbox. We have a spare gearbox with us and it weighs some 3.6 tonnes ,” he said. The Gulmarg Gondola is the flagship attraction of Kashmir tourism and possibly India’s most popular ropeway at a height of 13,500 ft – Asia’s highest operating cable car. The Gondola has two phases - first phase takes a person from Gulmarg bowl to Kongdori bowl at a height of 2,650 m (8,694 ft) while the second phase soars to sky touching Apharwat at a height of 3,980 m (13,058 ft). The ropeway has in total 108 cabins and 18 massive towers. Sajjad said that they have decided to refund the money of the tourists who had booked their tickets till June 3. “Tomorrow, we will refund their money without any deductions,” he said. Sajjad said that the internal committee headed by manager (operations) of J&K CCC is still investigating the cause of the fault while the external experts from France are yet to arrive. “Our internal committee is still assessing it and primarily it appears a technical glitch in the gearbox,” Sajjad said. He said that a 2-3 member POMA team from France will be coming on Monday or Tuesday for an independent assessment- a technical audit. “They will assess on their own and will be having a thorough and proper check of the system,” he said. In January, 2025, a ‘technical snag’ had