Shimla: Union Government has sanctioned an Innovative Urban Transport Ropeway project worth Rs. 1546.4 crores for Shimla city. The Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India (GoI) has given In-Principal approval for the project.
Innovative urban transport ropeway project for decongestion of Shimla city would be 14.69 Km long and have 15 boarding and de-boarding stations.
The ropeway project would start off from Taradevi and would have a combination of smart parking, lifts and escalators would be integrated with existing transport networks. Fare would be more or less at par with conventional transportation so that even local people were motivated to travel on this network instead of using their own vehicles.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur thanked the Central government.
“State Government envisaged Ropeway as an Eco-Friendly Mode of Transportation and Himachal was moving forward in this direction,” CM said in a statement.
Jai Ram Thakur said that Shimla currently has a population of about 3.08 Lac with an annual tourist influx of around 40 Lac. The city has narrow roads with heavy settlements, which further compound during the tourist season when thousands of tourist vehicles reach Shimla daily causing huge traffic jams, added the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister said that this project would be a game changer with tourists parking their vehicles at the entry point of Shimla and boarding the ropeway network. This eco-friendly mode of transportation will be a carbon-neutral project, he added.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the ropeway project would be completed by RTDC in 5 years and the project would be the first of its kind in the country.
