Maj Gen Puneet Doval Leads Daring Rescue of 300+ Tourists After Gulmarg Gondola Fails Mid-Air
Gulmarg, May 26: Imagine being suspended mid-air, swaying hundreds of feet above snow-clad Himalayan slopes, with no forward movement. Panic sets in. The temperature is dropping. And inside a nearby cabin, a pregnant woman is struggling to stay calm.
This wasn’t a drill. This was the real crisis at the Gulmarg Gondola—one of the world’s highest cable car rides—when a technical fault brought the service to a terrifying halt.
But what unfolded next wasn’t a story of chaos. It was a masterclass in courage, coordination, and quiet leadership.
The first to arrive weren’t waiting for orders. They were already there.
Within minutes, the High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS)—an elite Indian Army training institution—transformed into a full-fledged rescue hub. Leading from the absolute front was Maj Gen Puneet Doval, Commandant of HAWS. Not from a control room. Not through phone calls. But on the ground, face to face with the crisis.
He set up an instant control centre alongside the 19 Division and civil administration. But the real magic happened in the air—and on the mountain.
HAWS teams split into two groups with surgical precision:
One team moved downward from Phase-1
The other moved upward from the base station
The most dangerous zone? The Gondola base, where the height differential between the ground and cable cars was at its maximum. That’s exactly where the HAWS team positioned themselves.
Over 60 to 65 gondola cabins were affected. Nearly 312 tourists—families, elderly, children, and a pregnant woman—hung in the freezing void.
Here’s what made the difference: HAWS had recently conducted a contingency drill with the Gulmarg Development Authority. That rehearsal turned into a lifeline.
Rescue teams were assigned specific cabins. Movements were synchronized. Communication was tight. And by last light—against all odds—every single stranded tourist was brought to safety.
No casualties. No panic-induced accidents. Just professionalism with a heartbeat.
A Pregnant Woman, A General’s Touch
Among the rescued was a pregnant woman, safely brought down by senior HAWS officials. Maj Gen Puneet Doval didn’t just coordinate—he personally reassured shaken tourists as they stepped onto solid ground, handing them over to medical teams with the calm of a seasoned soldier and the warmth of a guardian.
“He was there. At the base. In the cold. Making sure each person knew they were safe,” recalled a rescued tourist from Gujarat.
This wasn’t a solo act. The rescue mission saw the Indian Army, HAWS, SDRF, NDRF, J&K Police, district administration, and local volunteers come together like clockwork. Strangers turned into teammates. Tourists turned into survivors.
In a world where headlines often scream of division, here’s a story of unity.
Where a technical failure could have ended in tragedy, leadership turned it into a triumph.
Maj Gen Puneet Doval and the HAWS team didn’t just rescue 312 people that day.
They reminded us that when courage meets preparation, and when leaders lead from the front—no mountain is too high, no crisis too deep.
This is not just a rescue operation. This is what humanity looks like in action.
