Darjeeling Ropeway: Green signal for ropeway - Eight-year freeze on Darjeeling ride set to end

Calcutta, Jan. 4.TT: Holidaymakers in Darjeeling can soon add another must-do to their checklist: the ropeway ride that has been suspended for the past eight years.

The state public works department has issued a no-objection certificate that will allow the ropeway to resume commercial operations. “A no-objection certificate was issued two days ago. The ropeway will resume commercial operations very soon,” said A.R. Bardhan, the PWD secretary.

A joint venture between the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation and the Conveyor and Ropeway Services, the service was stopped after an accident in 2003 killed four tourists. Three cabins had then jumped the cable and plunged 50 feet.

The freeze meant that tourists in Bengal had to make do with ropeways at amusement parks, which does not gift the same thrill — and a chance to shriek in delight or fright — as sliding down a verdant slope in a cable car.

The 2km-long Darjeeling-Rangit Valley ropeway ran between Singamari, near North Point school in Darjeeling town at 6,500ft, and Vah Tukvar tea garden at 6,000ft. A one-way ride on the ropeway used to take about 20 minutes. The ropeway in the serene setting was popular among tourists as it offered a view of the tea gardens.

An audit was carried out by Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants (India) Limited, a central government undertaking, after which the PWD gave the certificate to resume the ropeway service.

“Mecon was given the responsibility as they have expertise in this field. The audit was conducted four to five months ago. It gave a list of recommendations, after which the private firm that runs the ropeway jointly with the forest department implemented all that they had been told to do,” Bardhan said.

“After the necessary changes were made, our team visited the site. We are satisfied,” the official added.

The specific date for resuming commercial services will be finalised after a meeting between the forest department and the company.

“It will take at least a week,” Bardhan said. “But they will have to decide at their meeting when they will resume operations. We have given the green signal. Now it is up to them to decide on the date from which commercial use of the ropeway will resume.”

Forest minister Hiten Barman, during his visit to Darjeeling in September last year, had announced that the ropeway would be made operational in October 2011. Barman is also the chairman of the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation.

Welcoming the move, Pradip Tamang, the general secretary of the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents, said: “The ropeway was a great tourist attraction as the view from the cabins is unmatched. If the ropeway is made functional, we are hoping that tourists will extend by a day their stay in Darjeeling.”