2 yrs after tragedy, tourism dept blacklists Trikut ropeway operator for five years

Ranchi: Two years after the tragic ropeway accident at Trikut Hills in Deoghar district in which three tourists were killed, the state tourism department has formally blacklisted the Damodar Ropeways and Infra Ltd (DRIL) for five years.
The move followed the imposition of Rs 9 crore as a fine on DRIL, which operated the 766-metre Trikut ropeway — India’s highest vertical ropeway — last year.DRIL has, however, termed the decision of both blacklisting and imposing the fine as against natural justice.
State tourism department secretary Manoj Kumar on Thursday said a resolution to blacklist the agency was passed on June 19 during the Jharkhand Tourism Department Corporation (JTDC) board meeting. “A PIL on the Trikut ropeway accident is also underway in the Jharkhand high court and we had to furnish our action taken report before the June 26 hearing. Although the hearing didn’t take place in the court yesterday (June 26), we had filed an affidavit on June 25 in the court, informing that the agency has been blacklisted and Rs 9 crore fine has been imposed.”
The cable car accident took place in April 2022, killing three persons while over 60 tourists were stranded mid-air for over 40 hours before they were rescued in a joint operation by the NDRF, Army, Air Force and the district administration. Soon after the incident, DRIL was made to pay Rs 25 lakh ex gratia to the kin of the three deceased. Around the same time, the state govt formed a special team to probe the entire incident after the high court took suo-moto cognizance of the incident. The probe pointed fingers at DRIL.
In mid-2023, the tourism department sent a notice to DRIL based on the probe report and imposed a fine of Rs 9 crore. The department has not received a reply or the penalty amount. Kumar said, “We will consider filing a civil suit against DRIL in coming days if required.”
DRIL managing director Aditya Chamaria, however, told PTI the action was “unfortunate” and against natural justice. He said the company was not given a chance to defend itself either by the enquiry committee or by the Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation.
“We are moving the court against that order. The allegations of negligence are totally false. We are running 14 ropeways all over India. ... It (DRIL) holds a 30%-40% market share of the ropeway industry.
Even the enquiry committee mentioned in its report that it is the rarest of the rare category of defect. Based on the rarest category of defect, how can you blacklist a firm? It is a harsh decision,” he rued. Meanwhile, the tourism department initiated steps to repair and operationalise the ropeway in August last year by floating tenders to scout expert agencies. However, it is still to fructify as RITES Limited, a PSU, which is an expert agency for the job, has termed it as beyond repair.
Kumar said, “After a detailed study, RITES has informed us that repairing the towers and ropeway wouldn’t be feasible and advised to go for a fresh ropeway installation. We have asked them to give their observation in writing so that we can initiate steps in this regard. RITES is our transaction adviser for four upcoming ropeway projects in the state.”