Chairlifts, safety and accidents

The lift is reported to have dropped 400 feet which if true suggest chances of any passenger surviving would be slim

Yet another mass-casualty accident is being reported, this time the fall of a chairlift located near Murree, with at least 11 dead and two more injured. The lift is reported to have dropped 400 feet which if true suggests that the chances of any passenger surviving would be very slim indeed. Cable cars are a familiar sight in mountain regions or the country and they are usually constructed and operated by local people. Anybody travelling the decidedly tricky Gilgit-Skardu road will spot what are called ‘flying foxes’; single-person wire-ways not unlike recreational ziplines but used to ferry people and goods across the river by the road. Travel north from Battagram on the N35 and there is a much larger, people and freight carrying, cable car that links the village of Kot Galla to the main road. It was the village lifeline in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake.

In the tourist sector there are popular chairlifts in the Murree area and they differ from the locally erected constructions in one very crucial aspect — they are subject to inspection and safety checks. No such checks and balances are in place outside of tourism, and although accidents are rare — people have no desire to fall to their deaths — they do happen. There are anecdotal reports that some tourists have begun to use the informal cable-cars, many of which are self-operated in that the users board and then propel themselves across whatever gap is being bridged. In these instances it is possible that the cable-cars can become overloaded as those unfamiliar with their use will also be unfamiliar with the optimal load.

The details of this latest accident are yet to be known but this accident, whether or not it involves tourists, is a cautionary tale. Chairlifts and aerial wireways are common in hill and mountain areas worldwide, and even in the best regulated countries — Switzerland, for example — accidents happen. Time for Pakistan to tighten and enforce safety culture. It is long overdue.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2017.

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