Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct 7: To the surprise of the local and non-local tourist arriving at the world-famous Gulmarg, the Gandola service has been resumed after remaining shut for more than 6 months due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The officials said that initially the services was made operational for 2 days a week, however, after gauging the response and the flow of the tourists-locals as well as non-locals-it was decided to keep the service open for the entire week.
Last Sunday, the officials said, at least 106 tourists availed the service and while keeping in view the response, the service has been made fully functional.
“On Tuesday we had 136 individuals who availed the Gandola services, it includes, 73 local tourists and 36 non-locals,” the official said.
He said that they are adhering to the SOPs strictly and are making only 3 people board one carriage with a capacity of 6. “We are making sure that social distancing is maintained and the cabin is sanitized after every ride,” he said.
A tourist from Mumbai who has recently arrived in Srinagar said that he was excited to reach Gulmarg and take a Gandola ride.
“I am happy to be here and at the same time, I am lucky to experience a Gandola ride; I will keep coming to Kashmir,” said Promod, a tourist.
Gulmarg Gondola has suffered a loss of over Rs 30 crores owing to the COVID-19 pandemic as the services remained shut for the last six months.
The administration reopened the commercial operation of Gulmarg Gondola Section-I (Gulmarg-Kongdoori) from September 27, 2020, on World Tourism Day. “Initially, we operated it for weekends, but due to an excellent response from the tourists we have decided to run it for a full week,” Suhail Ahmad Wani, Manager Gulmarg Gandola told Excelsior.
On an average, during peak season, Wani said, Gondola earns around Rs 40 lakhs on daily basis, and the total loss sustained has amounted to around Rs 30 cr in the last six months. “These are rough estimates and actual loss maybe more,” he said.
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