Srinagar, May 31 (IANS) The Cable car project, commonly called the Gulmarg Gandola, will resume normal operation on Tuesday, officials said on Sunday.

Officials said that the services will be resumed after an expert trial run of the project is completed on Monday.

The news about the resumption of the Gandola services has been received by tourists as welcome news since the cable car project is a major tourist attraction at the ski resort.

“Experts will conduct the test trial of the Gondola system on Monday to assess operational safety and technical performance before allowing public services to resume from Tuesday. The Gondola had remained closed for tourists till June 1 following a technical malfunction that led authorities to suspend operations and undertake maintenance work.

“During the closure period, all tickets for visit dates between May 25 and June 1 were ordered to be refunded in full,” officials said.

After a technical snag, the Cable car project had stopped completely, with 320 people stranded mid-air in cabins on May 25.

All 320 tourists stranded mid-air were safely evacuated after a technical malfunction halted operations on both phases of the cable car system.

The massive six-hour rescue mission was successfully executed by the Indian Army, J&K Police, SDRF, and local authorities.

The passengers were stranded in 65 cabins across the mountainous terrain, with some cabins suspended as high as 500 feet above the ground.

Emergency response teams reached the affected areas using snowmobiles and ATVs, launching a high-risk manual evacuation process in poor weather conditions to bring all visitors to safety.

All passengers were rescued without any major injuries.

The Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, ordered an official investigation into the cause of the malfunction.

Despite restoration efforts and preparations for reopening, the Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation has yet to determine responsibility for the incident that led to the suspension of services.

The closure is understood to have caused substantial financial losses to the corporation and affected tourism-linked activity in Gulmarg during the peak tourist season.

–IANS

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