Secretary, Tourism, Sarmad Hafeez, who has been nominated as Nodal Officer for carrying out safety audit of Ropeway projects in J&K, today reviewed the safety protocols put in place at the ropeways across J&K in a high level meeting of officers here.
The meeting was attended by Director, Tourism Jammu, Vivekananda Rai; Managing Director, J&K Cable Car Corporation, Ghulam Jeelani Zargar; Chief Engineer, KPDCL and JPDCL; Chief Engineer, Mechanical Engineering Department, Kashmir and Jammu; Superintending Engineer, R&B, Kashmir and Jammu; Additional CEO, SMVDSB.
Besides representative from Sky View Emperian, Patnitop and N C Srivastava, Advisor, NHLML also attended the meeting from New Delhi through video conferencing.
Addressing the meeting, the Tourism Secretary stressed the need for regular and periodic inspections of the ropeways besides regular maintenance of the machines and other equipment.
In this regard, he directed the Chief Engineers of Mechanical wings, designated as Ropeway Inspectors under J&K Aerial Ropeways Act-2002 and SRO 433 of 2013, to undertake regular checks of these ropeways and submit their reports regarding carrying capacity, operational requirements, maintenance etc on regular basis.
Underscoring the need for safety of these ropeways, Sarmad Hafeez directed strict adherence to the already laid down SoPs for the safety and security of passengers, staff and the equipment.
He asked the Ropeway Operators to undertake regular and timely safety audits and evacuation drills of these ropeways adding that any laxity in this regard shall not be countenanced.
During the meeting, representatives of Ropeway Operators also made their view points about further improving safety standards of these ropeways.