A kilometer-long ropeway to Srinagar’s Shankaracharya Temple, a ropeway across the Krishna River to the Srisailam Jyotirlingas temple in Kurnool, another to the Leh Palace, and one up to the Gwalior Fort — the Centre plans to launch 18 such ropeway projects totaling about 90 km in the coming months.
On October 2, the Centre invited tenders for the construction of one of these 18 projects, a two-kilometer-long ropeway to the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the temple on October 11.
Earlier this year, the Centre called for bids to build a ropeway in Varanasi, one to the Kedarnath temple, and one to Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand, all of which are expected to be completed by the end of the year, according to officials.
Other projects
More such projects are on the anvil — from Jammu & Kashmir to Leh, Northeastern states like Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur as well as in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. A 12-km-long ropeway project will be built in Tamil Nadu from Palani to Kodaikanal, a popular hill station. Another big project is a nearly 7-km-long ropeway to the Kodachadri hills in Udupi district, Karnataka, and an over 3-km-long one to the Bijli Mahadev Temple in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.
A 2-kilometer-long ropeway project from Darshan Deopdi to Shivkhori temple near Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu region is also planned in J&K, in addition to the prestigious ropeway project to the ancient Shankaracharya Temple atop a hill. The Centre is planning a ropeway to the Rajgad Fort in Pune, Maharashtra. The ropeway from Eegalapenta in Telangana to the Srisailam Temple in Andhra Pradesh will cross the Krishna River. A 10-kilometer-long ropeway from the Vaishali Metro Station to the Mohan Nagar Metro Station in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, is also planned.
Why Ropeways?
According to a document from the National Highways Authority of India, which has been entrusted with the job, ropeway projects have a maximum capacity of 6,000-8,000 passengers per hour through cable cars and can be built in a straight line over hilly terrain, compensating for their slower speed of 15-30 km per hour. Despite having a higher construction cost per kilometre than road transport, the shorter distance between origin and destination makes it more cost effective than roadways.
Ropeways are also a more appealing mode of transportation in hilly terrains for tourism and the travel industry, as well as urban transportation for last-mile connectivity. In addition, the government is conducting feasibility studies for five additional ropeway projects totaling approximately 30 kilometres in Uttarakhand. A proposal is also being considered for building a five-km-long ropeway in Nashik to Trimbakeshwar, also a Jyotirling, whose challenging terrains make it difficult for tourists to climb the hills.
