Thirty-four tourists riding in eight of the ropeway's trolleys dangled in mid-air here for more than five hours yesterday, following a technical snag in the ropeway's computerised system.

Although the promoters of the K.K. Trams project that links Jabli and Kasauli had claimed that ropeway was safe, yesterday's incident has raised doubts. Ropeway promoter K.K. Kashyap told Newsline that the ropeway was "fully safe". Project implementer F. Kropiunik, director of Kropiunik Cable Ways (P) Limited, the company installing and maintaining the ropeway project explained how the trolleys got stuck: "When an electric panel developed a snag due to voltage fluctuations, the motor running the cable could not restart, thus stalling the system."

He added: "As soon as the cable stops, its brakes are clamp automatically, which ensures complete safety. It is then that the rescue operations have to be started. Yesterday, we moved the cable cars with the help of a rescue winch which pulled the cable to bring the trolleys close to the ground. Thereafter, the passengers were brought down on ladders."

Admitting that yesterday's rescue operations were delayed by attempts to repair the fault in the panel, Kropiunik said the ropeway moved at a normal speed of 2 to 3 metres per second and panels have in-built arrangements for maintaining a constant speed. "If electricity goes off while the cable is in motion, brakes clamp automatically. In addition to the service brake, there is also an emergency brake. To check derailment of the cable rope, there are clips/holders at the towers to keep the cable intact. Besides, we also have a rescue winch, which is used in extreme circumstances." The cars are fixed to the cable; if the clamp holding the car to the cable breaks or opens, there is nothing to prevent the car from falling.

Meanwhile, despite loud claims by the promoters of various ropeways in the state about the security aspect, two of the three ropeways in Himachal - K.K. Trams at Jabli and Timber Trail, Parwanoo, have developed technical snags which put tourists through nightmarish experiences. Such repeated incidents have raised many eyebrows over the very functioning of ropeways.

In the 1992 Timber Trail incident, two people lost their lives and other passengers in the ill-fated car endured more than 48 hours of cold, hunger and of course terrifying uncertainty. In November last year the cable car on the Timber Trail ropeway "slipped back" when brakes "failed" but the passengers miraculously escaped.

Meanwhile, State Ropeways Inspector A.K. Pandey today inspected the site and assessed the ropeway equipment both at the Jabli and Kasauli (Nandoh) ends. The Solan Police has also registered an FIR. Pandey is likely to submit his report to the government soon, following which an expert committee of the government, which had earlier passed the ropeway, is likely to visit the site and give further directions. Although the management claims that they can restore the ropeway to working condition within a day, they have been directed neither to run the ropeway nor tamper with any of its equipment.

The K.K. Trams project from Jabli to Kasauli is a mono-cable ropeway, where the cable cars are fixed to the ropeway and the ropeway moves in the form of a single loop. The Timber Trial project is a bi-cable system, where one cable is fixed and the cable cars move on the other cable. As per law, a mono-cable ropeway is allowed to operate where the ropeway is not more than 30 metres above the ground. In the Jabli-Kasauli ropeway, the maximum height from the ground to the cable is 26 metres, while at places the ground level is hardly four metres from the cable, said Kashyap.

The over Rs 6-crore project at Jabli runs on a 150 HP motor, which has now developed a snag. It also has a stand-by 180 kv generator set also. There are a total of 12 cable cars operating on the ropeway, with a total capacity of 60 persons. The management was charging Rs 40 per adult passenger and Rs 20 for a child and the ropeway had so far already carried about 150 passengers after its launch.

The Kasauli hills ropeway moves a total distance of 1,200 metres and covers a total height of 300 metres from Jabli to Kasauli (Nandoh).