PM Modi Lays Foundation Stone for Kashi Ropeway: India 3rd in World to Get it | All You Need to Know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency – Varanasi (Kashi) – is set to get the world’s third ropeway public transport system.

On Friday, during his visit to Kashi, PM Modi laid the foundation of Kashi’s much talked about ropeway project, the estimated cost of which is about Rs 645 crore. Officials with Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) said the launch of the project, would not only make Kashi the first city in India to have ropeway public transport, but will also make India, the third country in the world after Bolivia and Mexico to have this urban transit system .

THIRD IN THE WORLD TO GET TRANSIT SYSTEM

In Bolivia, the service labeled ‘La Paz–El Alto Cable Car’, an aerial cable car urban transit system serving the La Paz-EL Alto metropolitan area in Bolivia, was inaugurated in 2019.

In Mexico, the service named Medicable that operates in Ecatepec de Morelos in Greater Mexico City was inaugurated on October 4, 2016.

FIVE STATIONS

The ropeway system will cover five stations, facilitating ease of movement and travel for tourists, pilgrims and residents of Varanasi.

The construction of the ropeway will ease the path of devotees going to the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. Anurag Tripathi, project director, National Highways Logistics Pvt Ltd, said that India would be the third country in the world after Bolivia and Mexico City to have a ropeway for public transport.

SOLUTION TO TRAFFIC JAMS

The Kashi ropeway project or Kashi cable car project is also said to be a foolproof solution to traffic jams, bracketed among Kashi’s perennial problem. Abhishek Goyal, Vice-President, Varanasi Development Authority (VDA), the construction agency in Kashi ropeway project, said in the first phase, the length of the entire project would be around 3.75km. It would operate from Cantonment area to Godowlia area in Kashi.

“Initially, around 150 cable cars would be pressed into service. The cable cars would also serve as an alternative transport to tourists alighting at the Varanasi Junction in Cantonment area and would ferry them to Godowlia from where they can visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple or Dashashwamedh Ghat, without affecting city’s traffic,” officials with VDA said.

People hailed the project and said the project would surely be a boon in streamlining the city’s derailed traffic movement. “Currently, the city is grappling with traffic jams, which is a common scene at almost every crossing of the city. However, the cable car project sounds viable. Not only tourists, but even locals would use the transport system as it will also reduce the journey time,” said Rajesh Kumar, a local who hails from Godowlia, one of the most crowded areas of Varanasi.

OTHER INITIATIVES

PM Modi also launched a development project worth Rs 1,780 crore and addressed the ‘One World TB Summit’ to mark World Tuberculosis Day. He launched various initiatives, including the TB-free panchayat initiative, rollout shorter TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) countrywide and a family-centric care model for TB, and released India’s annual TB Report 2023.

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