Overview
- On May 25 a technical snag left roughly 320 people stranded across 65 gondola cabins for hours before the Indian Army, J&K Police and the SDRF evacuated them.
- The government issued an order on June 10 creating a five-member panel chaired by Mehmood Shah with members that include tourism director Vikas Gupta and GDA CEO Tariq Hussain.
- The panel’s mandate is to reconstruct the full sequence of events and to carry out a detailed technical review of mechanical, electrical, electronic, braking, communication, control and safety subsystems.
- The committee will also review inspection logs, maintenance records and standard operating procedures to determine if operational lapses, negligence or supervisory failures contributed to the breakdown.
- Gondola services remain suspended pending technical rectification and safety clearances, and the panel’s report — expected in about 10 days — will guide immediate repairs, future safety rules and efforts to restore tourist confidence.