Unleashing the ropeways

It is noteworthy that the government's vision of 'ropeways as transportation solutions' covers congested urban areas and river-crossings too

Indians are not unfamiliar with ropeways. Many domestic locations provide their own special appeal. These include the Gulmarg Gondola, the Auli cable car in Uttarakhand, the ropeways at Dhuandhar in Madhya Pradesh, Karni Mata in Udaipur, Girnar in Gujarat, Raigad in Maharashtra, Malampuzha in Kerala, and the Darjeeling and Gangtok ropeways, and many others. Views of coal moving in strung overhead buckets are also familiar.

But it is ever since the finance minister’s pointed reference in her Budget speech on February 1 that the spotlight has turned to ropeways, not merely as tourist attractions, but as transportation solutions. This is what