Pak's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa govt takes action to temporarily shut down all privately operated chairlifts in province

Peshawar, Aug 24 (PTI) Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to temporarily shut down all privately operated chairlifts, locally known as 'Dolly', in the mountainous areas of the province, officials said on Thursday.
     The move was taken in the wake of Tuesday's incident in which eight people, including six schoolchildren, were left stranded 900 ft mid-air for over 13 hours when two out of the three wires of a chairlift snapped in Battagram district's Allai tehsil.
     All the people were later rescued by the Pakistan Army. The children were on their way to school when the incident occurred.
     Mansehra Deputy Commissioner Bilal Shahid Rao has sealed the chairlift in Battagram after the rescue operation and arrested its owner and the operator, officials said.
     This move was not limited to Battagram alone. The government has temporarily sealed other makeshift chairlifts in several districts throughout the province, they said.
     Owners have been instructed to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the government before resuming chairlift operations.
     As per the directive, 11 chairlifts have been indefinitely suspended under the jurisdiction of the Mansehra Deputy Commissioner. These chairlifts serve as a crucial means of daily commuting for local communities, allowing them to access nearby areas in a fraction of the time road travel requires.
     The district administration has directed local residents to opt for boats as an alternative mode of transportation in lieu of the chairlifts.
     The closure of these makeshift chairlifts has left residents in Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan, Shangla, Swat, and Malakand districts grappling with limited travel options. Many of these areas lack proper road infrastructure, leaving the locally operated chairlifts as the primary lifeline, often spanning the gap between two mountains.
     The impact of these closures is particularly felt among students, who rely on these chairlifts to access their schools. A concerned student said the closure will undoubtedly disrupt their schooling and education.
     In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, most of the chairlifts operate over rivers and large streams, particularly in the Swat district. These structures were originally constructed in the aftermath of the floods between 2010 and 2022, a period during which many bridges were washed away by torrential waters. Tragically, several incidents have occurred where these chairlifts have given way mid-air, resulting in loss of lives.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)