Modi hails efforts of those involved in Deoghar rescue op

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded the efforts of agencies in rescuing 73 of 76 people who were stranded mid-air for over 48 hours on the Trikut hills ropeway in Deoghar after it stopped on Sunday.

Three people died since the 766-metre cableway connecting to a pilgrimage site on Trikut hills developed a snag on Sunday -- one during a collision between two cable cars, and two fell to their deaths during the operation. .Teams of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were part of the over 45-hour-long rescue that culminated on Tuesday.

Representatives of all the forces involved in the operation, and members of civil society were part of a virtual meet with Modi on Wednesday.

“The entire country was glued to the TV looking at the challenging task. You jointly proved to the country that we have a team of IAF, Army, ITBP and NDRF which could come to rescue of its people even in the most difficult situation. We need to also congratulate local citizens who came forward and helped with whatever resource they had,” said the PM.

Underlining the importance of the response time of rescue agencies during a disaster, Modi said the experience of the Trikut hills rescue will enrich the forces for future missions.

“There is a need to document this entire exercise so that it could be used as a case study for training our men and improving our training in meeting future challenges,” he added.

Home minister Amit Shah, who was also present during the online interaction, said various agencies worked in coordination to complete the rescue operation with minimum harm.

He said Modi has changed the focus of disaster management which was oriented to relief before the new government in 2014 prioritised saving lives. This operation was an inspiration, he said