Daily Times

All’s well that end’s well. After spending the most traumatic hours of their lives hanging by a thread in the space between the sky and the earth, eight people, including six students were rescued from a hanging gondola in Battagram. The entire day had the country sitting on the edge of their seats, eyes glued to the screens and hands held in prayers as Pakistan’s military succeeded in “the most complicated and difficult rescue operation.” With two children rescued by helicopter and the rest recovered through ground-based operations in the darkness of the night, the valour of our Jawaans deserves the highest of appreciation. Feel-good moments like these where blaring mosque loudspeakers and urgent notices gathered everyone from locals to Hazara Commissioner to disaster management authorities and rescue departments, united in their resolve to sail through the daring operation restores one’s faith in humanity and our ability to protect our own. That a talented team of armed forces reached out to all its branches and was literally led by a General Commanding Officer of the SSG speaks volumes about the pristine professionalism and absolutely no reluctance in fighting from the front line. However, as always, bitter propaganda soon gained momentum on social media where a certain pool of online warriors were more interested in tugging at the official narrative and pitting one line of defence against the other. Instead of dabbling in the usual mud-splashing, due attention should have been given to the deathtrap uncovered by the cablecar dilemma. These chairlifts are routinely used by people to cross rivers and travel between valleys. Yet, they are often badly maintained, leading to deaths and injuries every year. One such accident in 2017 claimed 12 lives in Murree.

There’s a lot that still needs to be addressed about the safety of these shortcuts. At least 150 students taking the same hazardous journey every day to reach school in the hilly terrain is all the reason why the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should finally open its eyes to the precarious conditions its residents are forced to endure. Simply announcing maintenance checks is not enough. Just one powerful gust of wind can tug at the cables, force them to snap and shove people sitting inside to the clutches of an excruciating death. Battagram might have struck gold on Tuesday but one cannot cheat disaster every single time. *