Start Manali-Rohtang ropeway project: NGT

Vijay Arora

Shimla, June 20

To ease the traffic on the Manali-Rohtang road, the National Green Tribunal today directed the state government to take all possible steps for starting the ropeway project on this route without any delay.

While holding a circuit court here, the NGT headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar observed: “Keeping in view the need for tourism and to ensure that least adverse effect is caused on the ecology of that eco-sensitive area, it is important that the ropeway project should be completed with utmost expeditiousness.”

It further constituted a committee of secretaries of the Rural Development, Tourism, Urban Development, Forests and Panchayati Raj departments to ensure the compliance of the order.

The NGT told the committee that while finalising the alignment of the ropeway project, it should take care that it should be in the interest of environment and ecology of the area and told it to file report within four weeks.

During the course of hearing, it was informed to the court that the people of the area had some reservations on the rehabilitation scheme in the event the ropeway project was completed.

The NGT clarified in its order that the people who would be displaced due to the construction of the ropeway project would be given complete priority for rehabilitation under the Resettlement & Rehabilitation Scheme of the state government.

The NGT also gave permit to 100 more cars to go to Rohtang per day out of which 60 would be petrol and 40 diesel cars, but with a rider that 75 per cent of such would be granted permit under outside the tourist category. The remaining 25 per cent would be tourist from other districts of the state, it added.