Srinagar, June 25 (IANS) The famous cable car project, the Gulmarg Gondola, will resume operations on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir’s ski resort, Gulmarg.

A major tourist attraction in the Valley, Gulmarg Gondola, remained closed for nearly a month following a technical malfunction.

The Gondola service was suspended on May 25 after a technical snag left over 300 tourists stranded in hanging cabins, prompting a large-scale rescue operation involving the Cable Car Corporation, Jammu and Kashmir Police, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Army.

All passengers were safely evacuated in the joint rescue effort. Officials said technical teams worked for weeks to repair the fault and carry out safety checks.

Trial runs conducted over the past two days were successful, and the system has been cleared for passenger operations.

The suspension affected the local tourism-dependent economy in Gulmarg, impacting guides, photographers, pony operators, tour operators and hotel owners.

Tourism stakeholders welcomed the reopening, expressing hope that the resumption of services will boost visitor numbers and help restore livelihoods ahead of the peak summer season.

Gulmarg Gondola is widely recognised as the second-longest and the second-highest cable car project in the world. Higher lines include the Mi Teleférico in Bolivia and at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

The two-stage gondola lift ferries about 600 people per hour to and from Kongdoori Mountain, a shoulder of nearby Afarwat Peak at 4,260 metres altitude.

The ropeway project is a joint venture of the Jammu and Kashmir government and the French firm Pomagalski. The first stage transfers from the Gulmarg resort at 2,650 metres to Kongdoori Station in the bowl-shaped Kongdoori Valley. The second stage of the ropeway, which has 36 cabins and 18 towers, takes skiers to a height of 3,980 metres near the Afarwat Peak.

The second stage was completed in a record time of about two years for Rs 18 crore and opened on May 28, 2005. The French company had also built the first phase of the gondola project, connecting Gulmarg to Kongdoori, in 1998.

–IANS

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