A joy ride on a cable car in world famous ski-resort of Gulmarg turned out to be their last journey together for a Delhi-based family of four members after their cabin was brought down by a falling pine tree on Sunday.
Two minor girls, along with their parents and three others, were in the cabin at the time of the accident. This is the first fatal accident involving cable car in Gulmarg tourist resort.
According to the Jammu & Kashmir Police, the pine tree was uprooted due to high speed winds and fell on the ropeway. large numbers of tourists, stranded across different phases, were rescued by the local police and others to safety.
The police teams lead by SSP Baramulla had rushed to the spot along with rescue teams soon after learning about the tragic accident.
The victims from Delhi have been identified as Jayant Andraskar (36), his wife Manshea Andraskar (33) and their two daughters Anagha (4) and Janhvi (6). local residents killed in the mishap were identified as Mukhtar Ahmad Ganai, Jehangir Ahmad Khanday and Farooq Chopan of Tangmarg.
Jayant and Manshea were natives of Maharashtra and both were engineers working in Nagpur.
later they shifted to Delhi and their daughters were born in Delhi. While Jayant started teaching at Pusa Polytechnic, his wife took the role of a homemaker. Their daughters were studying at Goodlay School in Shalimar Bagh” he said.
The neighbours and friends of the Andraskars were shocked after they learnt about the tragedy that had befallen on the family.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Neeraj Meena, an executive engineer in Public Works Department and a close friend of Jayant, said, “I stay a floor above Jayant’s flat and after the day’s work was over, we both used to go for walks and discuss various subjects as we both belong to the engineering field. Our families used to party together. His wife and mine were both fast partners and my three-year-old daughter would everyday play with jayant’s younger daughter.”
“I am shattered and have no words. It is like I have lost someone from my family. Two weeks back they had gone to Maharashtra to their families and had specifically planned the Gulmarg trip considering the fact that there was a three-day work holiday till Monday and also the summer vacation of the two daughters. They were about to return on Monday night,” Meena said with teary eyes.