New ropeway to take wing before Puja .......WORK ON ROHINI-GIDDAPAHAR CABLE CAR SERVICE MOVES APACE

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, 14 May 2019, Siliguri: Tourists might be able to ascend the hills before Durga Puja in small glass capsules called gondolas, at least for a small distance, and float in clouds 

The visitors can skirt rides in cars through serpentine bends as the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is likely to commission a ropeway from Rohini to Giddapahar, on the outskirts of Kurseong town, ahead of Durga Puja 

"The work on the new ropeway is in full swing. We hope the work will finish shortly. Once the ropeway is ready, it will be a huge boom for tourism in Kurseong," said Anit Thapa, the chairman of the board of administrators that runs the GTA 

The project, sources said, is being executed by the Conveyor and Ropeway Services Private Limited (CRSPL) 

"The stretch between Giddapahar of Kurseong (located about 50km from Silig- uri) and Rohini (35km from Siliguri) will be linked by the ropeway. It will be a monocable gondola which will cover a distance of around 2.5km in 20 minutes," said a source in the CRSPL 

The GTA is spending Rs 16 crore on the project. Th- ere will be 16 towers in total along the route and they have already been built. "Around 90 per cent of the work is complete," the source said 

The number of gondolas with a capacity to carry six passengers each for the ropeway will be decided in due course. "Once the cable car is commissioned, it will handle 800 persons per hour. The distance between the two ends is 2,320m," said the source 

The ropeway in Darjeeling is one of the major attractions for tourists.