Baramulla, May 25: As many as 320 tourists, stranded in Gulmarg Gondola were evacuated on Monday in a joint operation launched by J&K Police, Indian Army, teams of SDRF, and local administration.
The tourists were left stranded mid-air on Monday after a technical snag disrupted operations of the famed Gulmarg Gondola cable car service in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
The move triggered panic among the tourists following which a large-scale rescue operation involving multiple agencies was launched at the world famous ski resort.
Officials said the malfunction affected the Gondola service operating between the Base Station and Phase-1 (Kongdori), forcing suspension of operations on both phases of the cable car system.
Soon after the snag developed, teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Jammu and Kashmir Police, civil administration and the Indian Army launched a coordinated rescue mission to evacuate tourists suspended high above the ground.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded the role of disaster response forces.
“Applause to India’s disaster response forces for safely rescuing 300 tourists stranded mid-air in cable cars in Gulmarg, Kashmir,” Shah said on ‘X’.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, and GoC 19 infantry division Major General Manoj Joshi besides other senior officers of Police and Army reached the spot to supervise the rescue operation.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said he was monitoring the rescue operation and had directed senior officials, including the Director General of Police, to reach the site.
Later, talking to media persons in Gulmarg, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary said all the people stranded mid-air were safely evacuated.
“There were 260 tourists in the gondola in 63 cabins. All the people were taken out of the cabins. The Indian Army, SDRF and J&K Police besides local guides played a big role in rescuing the stranded tourists,” he told media persons in Gulmarg.
“Everyone is safe now. A lot of tourists have come out of the gondola. When I went there, it was very muddy because the terrain is very muddy,” the Deputy CM said.
He said the rescue operation was over and everyone was evacuated safely.
“I came on here on the directions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Now I am going back and will give the report to the Chief Minister. On behalf of the Chief Minister, I would like to say that there is no need to panic,” he said.
The Deputy CM said he spoke to all the tourists and they have taken the incident as an enjoyment.
“All the tourists have taken it as an experience of life,” he said.
Earlier, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that his government was “closely monitoring” the situation.
In a post on X, the office of CM wrote that an investigation would be conducted into the incident and action would be taken if any lapses were found.
“The incident will be thoroughly examined and an inquiry conducted. Responsibility for any lapses will be fixed and appropriate action taken,” CM Omar wrote on X.
“He (CM) commended the swift response, coordination and professionalism displayed during the rescue operation, which ensured the safe evacuation of all tourists,” the post reads.
Talking to media persons, Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat said they received the information about the technical snag in Gondola at Gulmarg following which the cabins and tourists were stuck.
“Our first responder was SHO Gulmarg who left his office and came here with his SOG. After that, SDRF 14 teams were mobilized and after that another team was added as well,” he said.
The DGP said that eight mountain rescue teams of J&K Police (Armed) and Snow Leopards also provided their assistance.
“J&K Police and SDRF were present in the rescue operation. Other than that, Indian Army, 9 Rajref, and NDRF also reached here,” he said.
The DGP said that all the tourists stranded mid air were successfully evacuated.
“It has been raining a lot here, we all successfully completed the rescue operation. All the tourists have come down. Around 45 tourists who were not physically fit were brought on the stretchers. About 320 people have been brought down,” he said.
Earlier, General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the 19 Infantry Division Major General Manoj Joshi said the Army received information about the malfunction of Gondola around 12:45 pm after the gondola’s gearbox developed a fault, causing nearly 65 cable cars operating between the base station and Phase-I to come to a halt.
He said the situation was “totally under control” as more rescue teams arrived to speed up the operation.
Maj Gen Joshi said the situation triggered a large-scale rescue effort after scores of tourists and other passengers were left stranded in suspended cable cars.
“A request was received from the Cable Car Corporation and the District Administration Baramulla for rescue of people stranded in the cable cars,” he said.
Maj Gen Joshi said the teams from the Army, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Police, district administration, Cable Car Corporation, and other agencies jointly coordinated the operation on the ground.
He said that the authorities were continuously communicating with stranded passengers through megaphones to prevent panic and reassure them that all occupants would be safely evacuated.
There was some panic initially, but it was managed through regular communication,” Maj Gen Joshi said.
He said that temporary relief and assistance centres were established for rescued passengers, where refreshments including tea were being provided before they were guided back towards Gulmarg.
In wake of the incident, the Gulmarg Gondola service would remain closed on May 26 and 27, 2026, for technical maintenance.
An official said the maintenance work was initiated as a precautionary measure to inspect and rectify the technical issue before resuming the operations again.
The official said that tickets booked for May 25, 26, and 27 will be refunded to the people.
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