RAJKOT: The forest department has filed an offence against Usha Breco Ltd, the company operating the Girnar ropeway service in the Junagadh district. The offence was filed a couple of days ago for operating ropeway after sunset, which is in violation of Wildlife Protection Act.
The forest department filed a first offence report (FOR) against responsible persons of the company after issuing notice to the company twice.
According to the FOR, the Girnar ropeway falls under the sanctuary area and as per rules, nobody is allowed before sunrise and after sunset in the protected area.
The firm Usha Breco Ltd was slapped with notice twice before the forest department registered a FOR against it under section 27 of the Wildlife Protection Act. The firm could be fined under the provisions of the Act.
According to the forest officials, the company in reply to the notices had stated that they had stopped the ropeway operations on time. But because of the rush people who had gone up the Girnar mountain got delayed, hence they had to operate the ropeway after sunset to bring them back.
However, the forest officials argued that the company needed to manage the timings according to the rush.
Talking to TOI, deputy conservator of forests in Junagadh Akshay Joshi said, "The company has endangers the safety of the people."