Darjeeling: The Darjeeling district administration in West Bengal was shaken following the ropeway accident at Deoghar's Trikut in Jharkhand that took place on Sunday. Police and administration in Darjeeling have taken all precautionary measures to prevent such incidents here. Immediate monitoring of the ropeways has already started.
Police officers visited the ropeway on Monday, spoke to the management, and verified all the documents. A report has been sent to state secretariat in Nabanna. The ropeway runs two-and-a-half kilometres between Singmari and Takwar in Darjeeling. The ropeway is at 850 metres altitude. At present 11 cars run on the Darjeeling ropeway, which last saw an accident in 2003 that claimed the lives of four tourists. Following the accident, the ropeway service was closed for 8 years.
The ropeway was re-launched in 2012 and since then, no untoward incident has taken place. Darjeeling District Magistrate S Punnambalam said, "Immediately after the incident, we directed the local police and the administration to inspect the ropeway and check the situation. Forest Development Corporation, Public Works Department are in charge of the maintenance work. All the documents have been verified and the report has been sent to Nabanna."
"Tourists have no reason to worry about the ropeway in Darjeeling," said Zakir Hossain, an official with the ropeway management company. "The agency in Trikut is different from the agency in Darjeeling. The ropeway in Darjeeling is inspected every day before it starts and reformed every week. In addition, once a year the entire ropeway is maintained by a certified company. We have trained staff here," Hossain said.
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