MANISH RAJ/VIJAY DEO JHA
DEOGHAR/RANCHI, April 12: When Shobha Devi fell from the cabled car during the rescue operation at the Trikut hills in Deoghar on Tuesday, her daughter Archana cried inconsolably.
“I saw my mother hooked on a rope, hanging in the air and she fell. I will live and die with the most horrible scene of my life. My mother died in front of me. Without food and water, she was locked in the cabin for 48 hours. Since Sunday evening I have been here to take back my mother home,” she cried.
She was the third casualty of the Trikut ropeway tragedy in Deoghar which rocked Jharkhand and the nation as well. 55 years old, she was identified as a native of Deoghar. She fell from the height of 900 feet during the vertical landing. Her tether got entangled with the cable car. But despite several efforts, the rescue team could not unhook her, leading to her death. Deoghar DC Manjunath Bhajantri confirmed her tragic death and said that rest of the persons were successfully rescued.
On Monday, another victim Rakesh Mandal fell from a height of 860 feet as his safety belt malfunctioned before he could be dragged inside the helicopter. With this, the near-impossible rescue operation ended jointly carried out by the Indian Air Force, NDRF, and ITBP. However, everybody appreciated jawans for conducting jaw-dropping operations, but many said that after the incident with Rakesh Mandal, the rescue team should have raised a safety net to minimize casualty and injury.
It was a black Sunday for 63 people who went for a joy ride at the ropeway. The height of Trikut hill is 2470 feet. All of a sudden, a technical snag put their lives in peril.
“It was a nightmare. Locked in a cabin we were hanging in the air amid scorching heat. As if we were in a scary house. I was with my sons. I asked them to collect their urine in the bottle that could possibly save our life. I will not come to this place now,” said Vinay Kumar Das, a native of Malda district of Bengal. The family was on their way to Gaya (Bihar) to offer panda dan. On the way they decided to visit Trikut hills. “Hamara hi panda dan ho jata,” he said.
All rescued persons were taken to Ghormara where they were treated by a team of doctors.
