Get closer to nature on ropeway ride from Siliguri to Kurseong
Kolkata: Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) is coming up with passenger ropeway from Rohini Tourist Complex in Siliguri to Gidda Pahar at Kurseong to provide an alternative mode of transport infrastructure in theHills.
The services that is being commissioned by Conveyor and Ropeway Services Private Limited (CRSPL) is in its last phase and is expected to commence early in 2020.
"The 2.3 km ropeway will be beneficial for the tourists and inhabitants of Siliguri and Kurseong. Most importantly, the ropeway will drastically reduce the travel time in comparison to that by vehicles along the hilly road. The ropeway ride will take around 15 minutes while vehicular movement takes 40-45 minutes," said Rachana Mukherjee, director of CRSPL. According to Mukherjee, the ropeway can emerge as a major transport infrastructure in the Hills considering the increasing vehicular pressure on the road space that have contributed to landslides becoming a common phenomenon causing delay in travelling. "We have plans to expand the services further from Gidda Pahar to Kurseong in the days to come," she added.
The ropeway services — a Monocable Continuous Rotating Gondola — will have 22 cabins with the capacity to carry 500 passengers an hour. It will also provide a pollution-free transport system. The total project cost is around Rs 18 crore.
Gidda Pahar located at a distance of around 3 km from the Kurseong bus stand offers a panoramic view of the mountains, the snow peaks (including Kanchenjunga) and the valley. The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Museum located in Giddapahar is a major tourist attraction. It was originally a private house purchased in 1922 by Sarat Chandra Bose, the writer and veteran freedom fighter. Later between 1933 to 1935, Sarat Chandra and subsequently Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose were kept here by the British under house captivity. The Gidda Pahar Seti Mata Temple — Hindu temple of goddess Durga — is another major attraction for tourists.
The Darjeeling ropeway, one of the most popular haunts for tourists at Singamari, is run jointly by the CRSPL and the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Limited. The cable cars travel from Singamari to Vah Tukvar is of 2.5 km and the ride takes around 20 minutes.
There are 16 cabins with six seats in each of them.
"We are the first ropeway manufacturing company in the world to invent the non-linear ropeway for a second tier alternative urban transportation christened CURVO," said Shekhar Chakravarty, managing director of CRSPL.
