Shimla: Mock exercise conducted at Jakhu Ropeway as part of disaster preparedness
Oct 25, 2023
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], October 25 : In a collaborative effort between the district administration, NDRF, SDRF Home Guard, and various departments, a mock exercise was conducted at Jakhu Ropeway in Shimla under the Samarth Abhiyan initiative on Wednesday.
According to an official statement, it was presided over by Additional District Magistrate (Protocol) Jyoti Rana and the exercise focused on safely rescuing tourists from a ropeway trolley, simulating an emergency scenario.
During the exercise, three tourists were safely rescued to the ground from a ropeway trolley from a height of approximately one hundred meters. One tourist was lowered using a chair, while two others were safely lowered using full-seat harnesses.
On the occasion, Jyoti Rana emphasized that the primary objective of this mock exercise was to ensure the safe evacuation of tourists from the ropeway trolley in case of an emergency.
He said that recently due to some problem or interruption in the operation of the Atomic Ropeway, some tourists got stuck in the ropeway trolley, but were rescued safely after a lot of effort. If such a problem or obstruction occurs in the Jakhu ropeway in the future, then this mock exercise has been done to deal with it so that during emergency situations, tourists can be safely evacuated as soon as possible.
He said that the process of mock practice of many activities under disaster management is going on.
Madan Sharma, manager of the Jagson Company responsible for constructing the ropeway, stated that this mock exercise has been conducted here on the instructions of the district administration.
He assured that rigorous safety checks are conducted, including daily inspections of the ropeway motor and spare parts before operation.
Sharma said, "The ropeway has been operational since April 10, 2017, and is inspected every month by the mechanical wing of the Public Works Department, but in view of the safety of the tourists, the company's engineers check the ropeway motor and all other spare parts every day before operating the ropeway."
He said that the total length of the ropeway is 410 meters and in case of power failure during ropeway operation, a 250-kilowatt generator serves as a backup system, with an additional system rescue engine available as a secondary backup.
On this occasion, Sub Divisional Officer Shimla Urban Bhanu Gupta, District Revenue Officer Sanjit Sharma, Inspector Sujit Mishra in-charge of the NDRF team, DSP Gulshan Negi in-charge of SDRF team, Senior Platoon Commander Sunil Dutt Sharma in-charge of Home Guard team, along with officers from various departments and companies were present.
