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MURREE: Pakistan’s largest chairlift and cable car service was inactive for more than two hours on Wednesday, leaving dozens of tourists frightened and suspended thousands of metres in the air.
Hundreds of tourists were travelling via the chairlift and cable car service when the service stopped due to an electric failure. The alternative facilities, the back-up generator as well as the emergency engine, which allows those passengers still on the lift to return with zero speed, were out of order.
Sources stated that the service was also interrupted for more than an hour on Tuesday due to a fault in the generator.
When contacted, Patriata Chairlift Manager Raza Khan laid blame on the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) for fluctuations in the electric supply. He said that the back-up generator is only functional when the electric supply has been fully disconnected, but cannot work if the supply is fluctuating. He added that the generator is guided electronically and does not perform well in particularly humid conditions.
Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2015
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Comments (23) Closed
Aug 20, 2015 08:30am
with the kind of govt apathy towards the tourism sector, this was predictable..... !
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Aug 20, 2015 10:00am
Don't do any thing to get rid of Problems. Blame it to others, and enjoy your life.
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Aug 20, 2015 10:13am
I went through the same experience about 25 years back at the same spot. So things haven't changed much since then. When will we see an improvement ?
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Aug 20, 2015 11:02am
Power outages are the common and old issue of whole Pakistan, nothing new. Sheer negligence and mismanagement by Patriata Chairlift Manager. why there is a need to have Back up arrangements and generators which would not work when required?
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Aug 20, 2015 11:04am
The generator does not work well in humid conditions? Then why was it bought for humid conditions? And if the generator cannot work unless the electricity supply is completely off, then why not put off the supply, run the generator and rescue the visitors? Surely this gives the phrase "captive audiences" a whole new meaning.
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Aug 20, 2015 11:06am
Then dont take tourists on the chairlifts. First get adequate power that does not fluctuate, only then can you send people up there on chairlifts. You have no right to play with people's lives having known the IESCO power is not stable. Whatever the cost, get a generator that works in the humid conditions and add the cost to the ticket, but DO NOT play with people's lives like this.
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Aug 20, 2015 11:13am
Never take responsibility for ones own failure but always pass the buck.
I'am afraid this is the pakistani mindset.
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Aug 20, 2015 11:15am
... suspended `thousands' of metres in the air ??
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Aug 20, 2015 11:27am
Hahahaha.... More funny than the mishaps in Pakistan are the excuses that follow from the people at helm. Even a 5th grader student can refute them!!!
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Aug 20, 2015 11:28am
Perhaps make small stations in between in order to ensure safety. What if some one gets sick or worst dies. The government and the people of Pakistan are killing the tourism. Please stop voting for incompetent people to run this country stand up to these bureaucrats, law makers and lobbyist to bring a positive change.
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Aug 20, 2015 11:31am
@Arshad Hussain well that's how our country works. Blame it on the next. Make money, launder it, and blame it on some other guy or if you can't find some one then kill a random person shovel up all the blame to them.
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Aug 20, 2015 11:32am
Just in time warning as going there with family in two days time. This info will help saving money and the experience. Thanks
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Aug 20, 2015 11:34am
Non technical and lame excuse by the chairlift management to shift blame on IESCO . They should be prepared to meet any sort of emergency and not only focus to extort money from visitors.
Zafar Faisalabad
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Aug 20, 2015 11:35am
no body is there to thing about tourism, very old facilities need proper maintenance and upgrade. no new attraction in past 10 to 20 year in Marree or ayubia.
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Aug 20, 2015 11:38am
I have been in same situation at same place for an hour or two in 1997. Problem is the staff not electric. I am sure many people have this experience there. This happens only in pakistan.
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Aug 20, 2015 12:30pm
And they call it the 'backup generator' and 'emergency engine'!!
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Aug 20, 2015 12:56pm
Lame excuse totally nonsense technically. Any generator could easily be operated manually bypassing the Auto mains failure(AMF) mode. Not working due to humidity !! That makes me laugh. Even temperature effect could be controlled through cooling system. I guess that DHA/ Clifton in Karachi is far more Humid than Patriata.
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Aug 20, 2015 01:14pm
Where are the inspections for these tourist resort run by management showing only apathy and playing with people's lives?
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Aug 20, 2015 02:19pm
@Zafar
Yes this cable car was running more than 10K meter up in the air.. am I right?
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Aug 20, 2015 03:17pm
@Arshad Hussain and @Saad: If the Chairlift Manager is blaming IESCO then wait for the reply from the authorities. He raises a genuine concern that, you can not turn on the Power generators unless the main electric supply line is fully disconnected.
However, I would say, the Chairlift management should have installed a Breaker or Switch to disconnect the line manually in case fluctuations occurs. In this way, the back-up units would work smoothly.
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Aug 20, 2015 04:41pm
"...thousands of meters.."
That is an exaggeration as the lift is hardly a hundred meters higher in most places unless you are measuring from sea level.
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Aug 20, 2015 05:22pm
At least they got double time and free adventure in one ticket, a trip they will never forget. :)
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Aug 20, 2015 09:52pm
@Maaz
Those stranded on the chair lift must have had the scare of their life.
What we are only good at is coming up with explanations and blame shifting for failures. Can't we be serious at least when so many human lives are involved?
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