After being on the drawing board for many years, the government has finally started the process to build a Rs 250-crore worth ropeway project to Mata Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir, one among the holiest Hindu shrines.
Over 91 lakh pilgrims had visited Vaishno Devi in 2022, most of them taking the 12-km-long trek to the temple situated in the Trikuta hills at an altitude of 5,200 feet near Jammu.
Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited (RITES) invited a bid on Wednesday to build the nearly 2.4-km ropeway which could reduce the journey for pilgrims to just six minutes from 5-6 hours on foot through steep heights.
The project, to be built in the next three years, will start from Tarakote near the base camp of Katra to Sanjhichat, which is near the temple. The ropeway will have the gondola cable car system. Two years ago, a ropeway had started from the Mata Vaishno Devi temple in Trikuta Hills to Bhairon Temple situated on another hill-top.
So far, the only way to reach the Vaishno Devi temple is through a steep 12-km long trek or taking a chopper ride from Katra to Sanjhichat. The ropeway could offer a much cheaper and far less arduous journey for pilgrims to the temple. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 had inaugurated an alternate access path mid-way to the temple from Tarakote which is less steep and with easier gradient. The Centre in 2020 had also started a Vande Bharat train from Delhi to Katra.
Need for the Ropeway
“Walking for 12 kilometres can be arduous and tiring for those not used to it. Still many pilgrims prefer to walk all the way,” says the bid document, explaining how pilgrims walk or take ponies or mules to reach the temple. It adds that many pilgrims who are overweight or otherwise not fit to walk for long and those who have breathing problems or some other ailments or are old or physically challenged will be benefited by the ropeway.
“The 12 kms journey on foot on trek up to Bhawan (the Temple) is tiresome due to level difference of 5200 ft and the time taking journey on steep slope in normal scenario may get covered just in 6 minutes by ropeway, thereby saving on time and efforts of many visitors. The ropeway would not only save the ecology of the area but also prove to be a major attraction for the tourists as visitors would be able to get an aerial view of entire picturesque valley from the ropeway and may lead to further increase in tourist footfall,” the document adds.
It also says that during hot summer, pilgrims avoid daytime travel. “Now with availability of the ropeway, the tourist can also visit in daytime comfortably. There will be less pollution on the trek due to less garbage and less waste by mules. Due to less travel time, the stay at Bhawan (Temple) will be reduced, hence reducing the overcrowding and chance of any unfortunate accidents at Bhawan, particularly during peak season,” the document added.
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