The Uttarakhand government will turn the Mussoorie house of George Everest, former Surveyor General of India, after whom the world’s highest peak is named into a cartography museum at a cost of ₹ ₹24 crore, the state’s tourism secretary said.
“The construction of a cartographic museum is proposed at George Everest and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed soon with the Survey of India in this regard. Under a ₹24 crore project, the George Everest’s house is being renovated as a tourist spot where eco-friendly log huts, mobile toilets, food vans, open theatre, approach road and a heritage track is being constructed for tourists,” Dilip Jawalkar, secretary for tourism in Uttarakhand, said Saturday evening.
After an inspection of the site on Saturday, Jawalkar shared necessary guidelines with the representatives of Survey of India regarding the construction of the Cartographer Museum in George Everest’s house.
He further said that on completion of the project, local people will get employment and this heritage site can become a popular destination for tourists.
The secretary also inspected the progress of the Dehradun-Mussoorie ropeway project. After the removal of illegal encroachments, marking of land for the project has started, officials said.
{{/usCountry}}The secretary also inspected the progress of the Dehradun-Mussoorie ropeway project. After the removal of illegal encroachments, marking of land for the project has started, officials said.
{{/usCountry}}Jawalkar said that all preparations have been completed for the Dehradun-Mussoorie ropeway at the level of the Department of Tourism. A contractual agreement has been signed with a private firm for this project and work will soon start after environmental clearance from departments concerned.
The Dehradun-Mussoorie ropeway is an ambitious project of the tourism department, which will have a carrying capacity of 1,000 people on a one-way trip. Tourists will be able to cover the distance (around 30 km) between Rajpur Road to Mussoorie Taxi Stand in just 15 minutes.
“With the construction of this ropeway, on one hand, tourists will be able to enjoy the thrill of air travel while watching the greenery of the mountains and, on the other hand they will be able to avoid the problems of air pollution, carbon emission and traffic jam on the Dehradun-Mussoorie route,” the secretary said.