Shimla’s Jakhu ropeway crashes on house

It was a scary start to the controversial first aerial ropeway in Shimla on Wednesday as one of the trolleys came crashing down on the roof of a house in Jakhu.Luckily no one was hurt.

The other three trolleys hung precariously over the house.The incident took place at around 2 pm during the trial run of the ropeway which connects downtown Shimla(yodha niwas) to Jakhu the hill station’s highest point.

The police have lodged a case against the private company building the ropeway.

The ropeway was to start shipping tourists early next year but after today’s incident it could be further delayed.

Sources said the trolleys have been imported from Switzerland and reportedly each costs Rs 15 lakh.

The 20 crore project was raised a 13 storey structure to build the ropeway in the green area of Shimla. There are concerns the ropeway will damage tall deodar trees on its uphill journey to Jakhu hill.

The project is being built by Jagson International. The Himachal Pradesh government is also planning more ropeways in many places including Dharamsala and Manali.