Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta reviews modalities for development of ropeway projects to Shivkhori, Shankaracharya temples

Srinagar : Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta reviewed the modalities for development of ropeway projects to the famous religious places of Shivkhori Cave in district Reasi and Shankaracharya temple here in Srinagar city besides assessing the prefeasibility reports for ropeway projects planned for Pahalgam-Baisaran and Baltal-Amarnath Holy Cave.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, PWD; Secretary Tourism; representatives from National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML) and other concerned officers.The Chief Secretary called all these projects significant tourist attractions for future for the visitors to these places.

He said that the ropeway projects are eco-friendly and most suitable for such places. He observed that these projects besides being an attraction would be highly beneficial for the devotees and would help in increasing footfall to these religious places.

Dr Mehta impressed upon the officers that the projects should be in sync with the local culture and associated religious sentiments. He said that these should reflect the religious significance associated with these places besides being a very easy and reliable method of visiting these shrines of great religious importance.

He highlighted that these projects would directly or indirectly create employment opportunities for the local youth. He asked the executing agencies to take into consideration the development of allied facilities like parking lots, food courts, shopping areas, around the boarding stations of these projects.

The Chief Secretary was informed that initially two projects for Shivkhori Cave and Shankaracharya Temple would be taken in hand for completion in the coming year. It was further informed that these projects would possibly be dedicated to public around the year 2025.

Both these places are very popular in public and attract lakhs of visitors each year. It was also revealed that on completion of these projects each of the sites would be visited by around 10-20000 pilgrims each day with an annual growth rate of 4% and 2% for Shivkhori Cave and Shankaracharya Temple respectively.

The meeting was informed that both these shrines are located at hilltops requiring 2.35 Kms of line length from Darshan Deopadi-Shivkhori Cave and 2.70 Kms for Shankaracharya Temple. It was further given out that these projects would have 2 stations with upper station near the shrines requiring a travel time of just 09 minutes to reach there.

While reviewing the prefeasibility reports for ropeway projects for Pahalgam-Baisaran and Baltal-Amarnath Cave, it was said that the Baltal-Amarnath Cave axis is proposed to be of the length of 11.60 kms with intermediate stations at Domail, Brarimarg and Sangam on the way to the Holy Cave.

Both these projects had been termed significant for the visitors and benefitting lakhs of visitors on their completion.