A harrowing incident involving eight people, including children, left them stranded in a cable car precariously suspended above a ravine in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

For many, the footage of the chair lift hanging 274 meters (900 feet) above the ground is the stuff of nightmares. However, makeshift cable cars are a common sight in eastern Mansehra and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, extending to Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the north.

In regions lacking infrastructure and with vast distances between essential amenities like schools, these cable cars, often hastily assembled with scrap metal, are born out of necessity. Local communities, driven by the absence of alternatives and the cost-effectiveness, build them – often illegally.

Improvised cable cars

These improvised contraptions take various forms. Some are crafted from the upper portion of a pickup truck, with vehicles like Suzukis converted into large cabins for transporting people and livestock. Ropes connect them to the cable, which may also consist of scrap iron.

While undeniably perilous, these cable cars serve a crucial purpose. They are used to traverse rivers and reduce travel time between valleys in mountainous terrain. In Allai, the region where the recent incident occurred, there is no road infrastructure or basic facilities.

Consequently, a local resident received permission from the city administration to construct the cable car, as confirmed by the police to BBC News. Locals refer to it as “Dolly,” connecting the village of Jangri to Batangi, where the local school is situated.

This cable car drastically cuts travel time. What would ordinarily entail a two-hour walk can now be accomplished in just four minutes by using the cable car.

Significant costs

Beyond convenience, affordability is a key factor contributing to the popularity of the Allai cable car. It is significantly cheaper than road travel, with fares starting as low as 20 PKR (£0.053; $0.067), varying according to the distance covered.

According to local resident Mohabbat Shah, people are willing to take the risk with these cable cars. As long as there have been no issues with a particular cable car before, it remains a viable transportation option for people navigating the region. He explained that a one-way trip costs only 10 rupees per person, while booking a cab for the same journey could cost up to 2000 rupees (£18.91; $24.09).

While this particular cable car has not faced any challenges to date, others across Pakistan have experienced accidents. In 2017, an illegal cable car crashed in Murree, Punjab, resulting in the tragic deaths of 11 passengers as it plunged into a ravine. Last December, local media reported a rope snapping incident in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 12 children had to be rescued while en route to school, leaving them stranded 61 meters over a river.