Accordingly Amarnath, Kamakhya, Kedarnath, and Mahakaleshwar temples are among the 30 projects identified for ropeway connectivity across india covering a distance of more than 120 km, News18 has learnt. Planned under the ‘National Ropeways Development Programme’, currently one project between varanasi Cantt railway station and Godowlia Chowk is under implementation. This 3.85-km-long ropeway will ease the journey for those traveling from railway station to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Bids for two of the projects for Bijli Mahadev in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu and Dhosi Hill in Haryana’s Mahendragarh have been received, as per the National Highways Logistics Management Limited, under the National Highways Authority of india (NHAI). On Tuesday, these two projects were awarded.

As many as seven projects, amounting to 33km, are under bidding. This includes ropeway connectivity to Mahakaleshwar in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, Shankaracharya temple in srinagar in kashmir and Sangam in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. Two of the longest projects under bidding are in uttarakhand 12.40-km ropeway between Govind Ghat and Hemkund Sahib Ji in Chamoli, followed by 9.70 km long Gaurikund to kedarnath in Rudraprayag. For at least 15 projects, with a collective length of 57 km, a detailed feasibility study is in progress. These include around 15-km-long ropeway connectivity between Kathgodam and Hanuman temple in nainital in uttarakhand, another 1.4 km between Kankkchori to Kartik Swami temple in Rudraprayag. The second phase of varanasi ropeway and another for Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan are also planned for Uttar Pradesh.

Ropeway connectivity to Kamakhya temple in Assam, tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh, Sabarmati Riverfront and Statue of Unity in Gujarat, gwalior Fort in madhya pradesh and marina beach in tamil Nadu is also under planning. The minister went on to say that the focus should be on developing indigenous and cost-efficient solutions without compromising safety. He added ropeways hold immense potential to positively impact tourism and job creation in the country. To attract more private players for development of ropeways under Parvatmala Pariyojana, 60% construction support is provided under Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM for Ropeways) compared to 40% support provided under National Highways.