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Nepal's Armed Police Force conducted a mock drill in cooperation with Chandragiri Hills, a ropeway company, to prepare for possible situations at the time of operation.
Two gondolas got stuck for about an hour at an elevation of 2500 meters above sea level on a slope surrounding Kathmandu. Located at an elevation of 2551 meters above sea level, Tuesday's drill comes in preparation for possible disasters. Four rescuers, sliding down the rope with rescue equipment, made their way to the hanging gondolas. They worked swiftly to open the doors, calmed the trapped people, and brought them to the ground safely. Upon touching the ground, either by rope-drop or by sliding down the rope with a harness tied around the body, the rescued ones were checked for their health condition by the medical team and then discharged to the safer ground. Purushottam Thapa, DIG of the Armed Police Force, Nepal, said, "Disaster can strike at any time, whether it be natural or technical problems; passengers riding on the gondolas might get stuck mid-way. Overseeing all these possibilities, those trapped passengers are to be rescued within a specified timeframe as per the international guidelines." As per international regulations, those stuck in gondolas must be rescued within 3 hours. The Armed Police Force (APF) of the Himalayan Nation is always deployed at times of disaster to conduct search and rescue operations. Tuesday's rescue drill on the slope in steep terrain with an altitude of 2500 meters above sea level was conducted by Armed Police Force Number 9 Pashupati Bahini. Tuesday's rescue drill saw the participation of 26 officials from the APF and 8 rescuers from the Chandragiri Hills. The 2.5-kilometre-long cable car that runs up and down the slopes on the outskirts of Kathmandu has a total of 38 cabins. "Preparing for the disaster that we might encounter during the operation of the cable car and for immediate rescue; to know each other's capacity and establish cooperation for times as such has been the main motive behind the conduct of this simulation exercise," Kamal Bahadur Adhikari, DSP of the Armed Police Force, told ANI. The simulation exercise comes at a time when the hill station, located just on the edge of Kathmandu Valley, is gearing up to welcome tourists. Moreover, the flow of domestic as well as international tourists soar to the hill stations from the end of March. (ANI)
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