VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, April 12: Those four ill-fated tourists who died a tragic death in the Trikut hills ropeway accident in Deoghar apparently became a victim of the arrogance of babus of the tourism department of Jharkhand who overlooked objections raised by the expert committee.
A Calcutta-based company Damodar Ropeways and Infra Ltd (1974) had installed the ropeways in 2009 and has been operating it. The company claims to have installed and operating passenger cable cars at 14 tourist locations in the country.
During the commissioning of the project, the technical team had pointed out that there was unusual vibration in cable wire beyond the permissible level that can disbalance cable cars. The three-member committee consisted of one Mr. Srivastava, the then head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, besides Sanjay Kumar Sharma of the water resource department, and an engineer of the company.
“There were unusual and very huge vibrations in cables due to which the cable cars dangled during the movement. The technical committee had informed the department and stated that the vibrations were beyond the permissible level. I remember that the trial was held for a month. Ideally, objections raised by the technical team should have been addressed. I don’t remember whether the same had been done or not,” recollected one of the members of the expert committee. The tourism department was then headed by Arun Kumar Singh who is currently additional chief secretary of the health department.
Asked whether unusual vibrations could be the reason for the accident, the official said that it would be premature to reach any conclusion. “The ropeway was constructed in 2009. It requires regular maintenance,” said the official.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has ordered a probe into the matter. “The probe is likely to take a lid off the reason as to why did the tourism department give its green signal to the Calcutta-based company overruling the views of the technical committee,” said an official.
When contacted, Tourism Secretary Amitabh Kaushal said: “I am at Trikut hills site and busy with the rescue operation which is my priority. The probe will definitely take place.”
