Girnar ropeway


Girnar ropeway is an under construction ropeway on Mount Girnar in Junagadh district, Gujarat, India. It will be Asia's longest ropeway once completed. First proposed in 1983, the construction started only in 2017 after several delays due to pending government approvals and court cases. The construction and operation is managed by Usha Breco Limited.

History

Mount Girnar is a major pilgrim site because of presence of the Amba temple, the Dattatreya shrine, and many Hindu temples as well as several Jain temples.
The project was first proposed by the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited in 1983 which suggested the diversion of about of forest land. The Government of Gujarat finalised diversion of of forest land in 1994 and the compensatory forest land was granted near Toraniya village. The Government of India also permitted in 1995.
The project was delayed when the palanquin-bearers who carried pilgrims up opposed the project and petitioned the Gujarat High Court regarding their livelihood. The petition was dismissed after the company constructing the ropeway, Usha Breco Limited, agreed for compensatory jobs. After objections from the environment activists, the construction was further stopped in 1999.
The work resumed in 2002 after sorting the objections and the land was acquired in 2007. Then state Chief Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone. As the project was located within the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, the wildlife clearance was granted by the National Board for Wildlife in 2011 while the environmental clearance was granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India in 2016.
The proposed alignment of the ropeway was considered a risk to local endangered long-billed vultures. A Public Interest Litigation regarding it was filed in 2017 and was dismissed by the Gujarat High Court in 2020.
The construction was restarted in 2017. The project was projected to open in May 2020 but was further delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Project

The ropeway will be long, Asia's longest. It is being constructed at the cost of. The cost includes the construction of the lower and upper stations as well as nine poles supporting the rope. It will take passengers above the hill to the Amba temple. It will have 25 trolleys with capacity of eight passengers each.