Ropeway projects planned at major tourist sites

The Uttarakhand government is setting up a series of ropeway projects at various tourist and religious centres of the hill state to make them more attractive.

The important among them is the Mussoorie-Dehra Dun ropeway that would cut down the distance between the two areas to just less than 40 minutes.

At present, the road distance between Mussoorie and Dehra Dun is 35 km and one-hour drive.

Other ropeway projects are coming up at religious centres like Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Poornagiri.

After taking forest and environment clearances, the state tourism department recently invited bids from private players for the Mussoorie ropeway project to be built with an investment of Rs 700-800 crore. The bidding process would be initiated this month, tourism minister Prakash Pant said.

Uttarakhand Infrastructure Projects Company Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between the state government and IL&FS, has already prepared the detailed project report of the project.

The government is also trying to develop George Everest Estate as a major hub for eco-tourism activities. Here, the project would be a gondola-type ropeway, with a carrying capacity of 1,100 passengers per hour, says Rajiv Kumar Garg, who is heading UIPC.

There will be three to four points where the cablecar would halt for two to four minutes. At these halting points, the department has proposed to build amusement parks and budget hotels.

The George Everest Estate is also being renovated as part of the ropeway project.

For the ropeway project to be set up in the Yamunotri shrine area in Uttarkashi district, the UIPC has received three bids so far. But no decision has been taken, sources said. An investment of Rs 15 crore is expected in the Yamunotri ropeway project.

Bids would also be invited for Kedarnath shrine perched at a height of 3,581 metre in the Garhwal Himalayas in Rudraprayag district.