All 260 tourists stranded in cable car cabins at Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir's premier ski resort, were rescued safely on Monday, 25 May after a technical fault triggered a large-scale multi-agency evacuation operation. The passengers, spread across 63 cabins of the Gulmarg Gondola, were brought down to safety after hours of coordinated effort involving the Army, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local police, and residents.

How the Rescue Unfolded

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary rushed to Gulmarg on the instructions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to personally oversee the operation. Speaking to reporters on the ground, he confirmed that all passengers had been evacuated. 'There were 260 tourists, 63 cabins, and people were evacuated from all cabins. The Army, SDRF, local people and police played a crucial role in this. All people have been evacuated. The path there is very muddy, so people are coming down on foot from above,' he said.

He added: 'There is no need to panic. Everything is fine. All tourists are safe. I will submit a full report to the Chief Minister, and the government will take steps accordingly. What happened and how it happened will be known after the investigation.'

What Senior Officials Said

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had earlier stated that he was personally monitoring the rescue operation after a technical fault left tourists stranded mid-air. 'I have directed the DGP to proceed to the site. Joint rescue teams of police, Army, SDRF, along with the DC and SSP, are conducting the operation to ensure the safety of all tourists,' he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat, Special DGP Javaid Mujtaba Gilani, and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir V.K. Birdi were among the senior officers who supervised the operation on-site.

The Managing Director of the Cable Car Corporation, Syed Qamar Sajjad, described the incident as a technical glitch, saying there was no major issue. However, the scale of the response — drawing rescue teams from multiple agencies — suggested a potentially serious situation had been averted.

Chief Minister's Assurance

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had assured the public that the government was closely monitoring the situation and that all necessary measures were in place. In a post on X, Abdullah confirmed that all cabins remained intact and that trained rescue teams were actively carrying out the evacuation. 'The situation is completely under control and there is no cause for panic,' he wrote.

Notably, Abdullah is a keen skier who regularly uses the Gulmarg Gondola and is personally familiar with the terrain and the cable car's technical infrastructure — lending additional credibility to his public reassurances.

Scale of the Operation and What Comes Next

The Gulmarg Gondola is one of the highest cable car systems in the world and a key draw for tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir. Monday's incident, which stranded close to 300 people at various points along the route, underscores the critical importance of robust safety protocols at high-altitude tourist infrastructure.

Deputy Chief Minister Choudhary confirmed that a full report would be submitted to Chief Minister Abdullah, and that a formal investigation would determine the cause of the technical failure. The government is expected to announce safety review measures for the Gondola project in the coming days.