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Horror in the hills
Darjeeling, the queen of the hills, recently saw one of its worst disasters when four tourists were killed and 11 injured as the cables of the ropeway slipped off the pulley plunging three cars into the tea estates below. Luckily one car was empty. As there was no road to the accident site, rescue work was hampered with villagers having to physically carry the injured to the nearest road. The ropeway is the second most popular tourist attraction in Darjeeling after the toy train, and considering that this is the tail-end of a popular tourism period for the hill station, it is fortunate that the toll is so low.
The ropeway was started in 1968 by the forest development department and comprised only a single car which ran one way. Later it was upgraded to 16 cars and went to and fro. Since then the ropeway is being managed by a private company with the forest department taking a rent of Rs 15,000 per month and 16 per cent of sales. As usual companies are ready to rake in the moolah with money-spinning ventures but do not bother about maintaining the machinery. Passenger safety does not seem to be high on their list of priorities. Predictably it is found the ropeway had not seen any repairs for the last five years. The responsibility for the accident lies with both the private company running the ropeway and the forest department for not keeping a eye on them. Darjeeling has been plagued with a change in perception in recent years among tourists who see it as just another jaded hill resort. Accidents like this cannot help to change the image.
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