The ropeway is said to cover the entire distance in 16 minutes and will be operational for 16 hours per day. The project will feature a trolley with a capacity of 10 passengers running at an interval of every two minutes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the country's first urban transport ropeway in Varanasi during his visit on Friday. The 3.75-km long ropeway system between Varanasi Cantonment and Godowlia Chowk will have five stations and it would make it easier for visitors, pilgrims, and locals to commute.
With this Rs 645 crore ropeway project, access to Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Dashashwamedh Ghat will be more convenient.
This is India’s first urban ropeway project and once the project becomes functional India will be the third country in the world after Bolivia and Mexico City, to use a ropeway for public transportation.
Features of the project
The ropeway in Varanasi will cover an aerial distance of 3.75 km. It is expected to serve as a faster and economical mode of transportation which will save time and money for the tourists who get stuck in traffic jams on the busy roads of Varanasi.
The ropeway project will be constructed by Vishwa Samudra, National Highways Logistics Private Limited (NHLML) in collaboration with Switzerland-based firm Bartholet.
The ropeway is said to cover the entire distance in 16 minutes and will be operational for 16 hours per day. The project will feature a trolley with a capacity of 10 passengers running at an interval of every two minutes.
Around 3,000 people will be able to travel in one direction in an hour as per the government statement.
Other similar projects
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the National Ropeways Development Programme, named 'Parvatmala' in the Union Budget 2022-2023. The project will develop the ropeway as an alternative mode of public transport in difficult hilly areas.
The programme has attracted a lot of investor interest in many states. The scheme may also cover congested urban areas where a conventional mass transit system is not feasible.
Under the scheme, over 40 ropeway projects are under consideration in states including Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu.
The key projects include:
Dehradun City Urban Ropeway Project in Uttarakhand, which will cover a distance of 25 km. The project has an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore.
Mumbai-Elephanta Ropeway, which will cover a distance of 8 km. The project has an estimated cost of Rs 700 crore.
Mahavirnagar-Gorai Urban Ropeway Project covering a distance of 7.20 km. It has an estimated cost of Rs 575 crore.
Film City-Jewar Airport in Uttar Pradesh which has an estimated cost of about Rs 800 crore.
As per a Financial express report, five more projects in Kedarnath (9.70 km), Hemkund Sahib (12.40 km), Ujjain (1.99 km), Bijli Mahadev (2.4 km) and Shivkhori (2.1 km), have also been planned.