Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday interacted virtually with Indian Air Force, Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel and teams of local administration and civil society who were involved in the rescue operations of the Deoghar ropeway accident in Jharkhand and thanked them for their courage and valour. The operation had gone for over 40 hours in which over 60 stranded tourists in cable cars were rescued while three, including two women, had died.
The Prime Minister first spoke to NDRF Sub-Inspector Om Prakash Goswami who briefed Mr. Modi about this “difficult rescue operation”. Mr Modi then interacted with IAF official group captain Y.K. Kandhankar, Garud Commando Pankaj Kumar Rana and praised their “unprecedented courage” during the rescue operation. The Prime Minister spoke with ropeway employee Pannalal Joshi, who, along with a group of local civilians, was sitting with BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey and asked Mr. Joshi, “have you got any training for such difficult rescue operations?”. Mr. Joshi explained how he along with his colleague Govind Singh rescued 11 trapped passengers on the first night of the accident on April 10.
ITBP sub-Inspector Anand Kumar Pandey, Army Brigadier Kulbir Singh and Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri too interacted virtually with the Prime Minister and explained their experiences of the rescue operation. “Before the IAF team reached the spot we had planned every detail on the ground which helped them in chalking out their rescue operations. We also used drones to provide food and other stuffs to those trapped inside the cable cars during night”, said Mr. Bhajantri. Mr. Modi said, “your patience and perseverance during the rescue operations are priceless”.
Calls for documentation
“I congratulate you all for your patience, grit and valour in carrying out this difficult rescue operation successfully. Your coordinated effort made it possible and you all should make a manual of your experiences, and documentation of your challenges during the rescue operation should be a part of training”, said Mr. Modi. He also wished speedy recovery to all those injured during the long operation.
However, before the Prime Minister’s interaction programme, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren too had a virtual meeting with two ropeway employees Mr. Pannalal Joshi and Mr. Govind Singh. Mr. Soren appreciated their effort and courage in rescuing stranded people and presented ₹1 lakh cheque. “You came as a real devdoot [god’s messenger] for those trapped inside cable cars”, said Mr. Soren.
An IAF release said it utilised two Mi-17V5, one Mi-17, one Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and one Cheetah to “fly more than 26 hours” during the operation. The IAF contingent also included five Garud commandos.
On April 10 evening, cable cars of the Deoghar ropeway running on Trikut hills, near the famous Baba Baidyanath temple, collided midair due to some technical glitch.
