Govt clears ropeways at two Uttarakhand religious sites
Both will be complete in four to six years and built at a combined cost of ₹6,811 crore, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said during a press briefing
The Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the construction of ropeways at Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand, in a move that will significantly cut travel time to the two popular pilgrimage sites.
Both will be complete in four to six years and built at a combined cost of ₹6,811 crore, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said during a press briefing.
The 12.9km ropeway at Kedarnath will begin at Sonprayag, 16km away on foot ,and have a stop at Gaurikund. The 12.4km Hemkund Sahib project will start at Govindghat and stop at Hemkund Sahib with a stop at Ghangaria in between.
According to a government release, “The ropeway project will be a boon to the pilgrims visiting Kedarnath as it would provide an environment-friendly, comfortable and fast connectivity and reduce travel time in one direction from about 8 to 9 hours to about 36 minutes.”
“Currently the yatra, which is active only for two months, will increase to six months. Our disabled and elderly will be the major beneficiaries of the project,” union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said during his interaction with reporters post the cabinet meeting.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “On behalf of all the residents of the state, I express my heartfelt gratitude to the respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving the ropeway projects...These projects will ensure better connectivity for pilgrims and tourists, making the journey easy and smooth. This will also reduce the time taken in the journey, which will provide great relief to the pilgrims.”
The Kedarnath system will carry 1,800 passengers per hour per direction and about 18,000 passengers per day. It will be based on a tri-cable detachable gondola (3S) technology. One cable will be used for haulage and the other two will work to provide stability to function safely in windy conditions that are frequently witnessed in the area, Vaishnaw added.
The project will be developed on a “design, build, finance, operate and transfer” (DBFOT) policy at a total capital cost of ₹4,081.28 crore in a public-private partnership.
Each gondola will have a capacity of 36 passengers and will be like a minibus, said Vaishnaw.
Kedarnath is one of the 12 sacred Jyotirlingas, situated at an elevation of 3,583 m (11,968 ft) in the Rudraprayag district. The temple is open for pilgrims for about six to seven months in a year from Akshaya Tritiya (April-May) to Diwali (October-November) and is visited by about two million pilgrims annually during the season, said the government statement.
The project in Hemkund Sahib will be slightly different with monocable detachable gondola (MDG), where a single cable will work both for support and propulsionfrom Govindghat to Ghangaria (10.55 km), which will integrate with a tricable detachable gondola (3S) technology from Ghangaria to Hemkund Sahib Ji (1.85 km) with a design capacity of 1,100 passengers per hour per direction, to carry 11,000 passengers per day.
Hemkund Sahib is revered by Sikhs and serves as the gateway to the Valley of Flowers, a national park recognised as the Unesco World Heritage site with an annual footfall of between 150,000 and 200,000.
The projects will be carried out by National Highways Logistics Management (NHLML), a subsidiary of the National Highways Authority of India, as part of Parvatmala Pariyojana in joint venture with Uttarakhand’s tourism development board.
Jignesh Mehta, programme chair of master of urban planning at CEPT University said ropeways are a very good mode of travel, specifically in the hilly terrain where the road connectivity is difficult , and environment-friendly because unlike roads there is no necessity to cut the slopes, forests or force acquisition and demolition [migration] of existing settlements as they can go above them.
“However, they should not become an eyesore. It is feared that the upcoming ropeway projects in cities like Shimla may hinder some of the natural vistas and heritage properties which is one of the reasons, tourists flock those areas in the first place,” he said.
He also warned that these projects being in heavy seismic zones also means that structural safety, regular operation and maintenance, is critical, reminding ropeways are weather sensitive.
The cabinet also approved the revision of the Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme (LHDCP), which will primarily target foot and mouth disease (FMD) and brucellosis, and add a focus on animal medicine.
Vaishnaw also said that nine states are on the verge of becoming FMD free on the back of strong vaccinations.
The total outlay of the scheme is ₹3,880 crore for 2024-25 and 2025-26, which includes provision of ₹75 crore to provide quality and affordable generic veterinary medicine and incentive for sale of medicines under Pashu Aushadhi component. One of the subcomponents of the scheme will include door-step delivery of livestock health care through mobile veterinary units and improving availability of generic veterinary medicines through the network of PM-Kisan Samriddhi Kendra and cooperative societies.
