Himachal, 25 August: Tourism Secretaries of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab met in Chandigarh yesterday to discuss accelerating the Naina Devi-Anandpur Sahib ropeway project, which was first proposed in 2012. The project has attracted no interest from the commercial sector. The initiative, aimed to ease pilgrims’ travel, majority of whom are from Punjab and Haryana as they make their way to the Naina Devi shrine in the Bilaspur district.
Naina Devi temple situated in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh
The project, for which the governments of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2012, but eventually abandoned, is probably going to be started up once more by them.
Despite six years being gone by since the two governments signed an MoU again in September 2018, the project has not gained momentum yet. With very little progress, the majority of ropeway projects have experienced the same fate. Although ropeways are seen to be a better form of transportation in the hills, particularly to relieve traffic congestion, they have not yet been put into use.
According to the Tribune, the cost of the ropeway project conceived in 2012 was pegged at Rs 85 crore with an initial span of about 2.5 km, which was enhanced to 3.85 km. The project cost is likely to escalate to Rs 175 crore.
The Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation has made repeated attempts to enlist the participation of a private company in the project, but to no avail. The project was put up for bids three times, in March 2020 and April 2021, with an additional extension of the deadline, but no investor expressed interest. The previous BJP government made the decision to select a new technical consultant on January 4, 2022, in order to draft new proposals for the project.
On July 26, 2012, the two states signed this Memorandum of Understanding under the leadership of PK Dhumal’s BJP government. But the MOU was canceled in August 2013 by the Congress government led by Virbhadra Singh claiming it was unfair and went against the economic interests of Himachal Pradesh.
To speed up the project, a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Punjab and Himachal in September 2018, and on April 3, 2019, a Joint Venture Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) was established. Nevertheless, no investor expressed interest in the idea, therefore progress has been stagnant.
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