Mandi institute working on upgrading ropeway system

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, May 25

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),Mandi, is working on a project to upgrade the ropeway system in India. Once completed, it will help people in rural and remote areas enjoy hassle-free and safe connectivity.

People living on the banks of rivers and those who are dependent on ropeways often face connectivity issues during monsoon or any other disaster. They remain cut-off from the rest of the world for several days. However, with an improved system, their life would become easier and they would have access to educational, medical and commercial institutions.

Sources said the project could be implemented in many states such as Himachal, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and North-East region.

Dr Rajnish Sharma from IIT-Mandi and the Society for Technology & Development (STD) have jointly developed a prototype in which paddles are used to rotate a drum wrapped with one or two folds of a thin pulling rope on its periphery. The ends of the rope are then fixed on piers situated on both banks.

Dr Sharma said, “An angular motion provided to rope drum through paddles causes winding and unwinding of rope simultaneously and results in linear movement in the direction of winding side of the rope. The rope drum has been made an integral part of the carrier. It will move along with the rope drum. The idea has been used in prototype-I also and found fit to serve the purpose of upgrading conventional river ropeways. This can be produced easily with locally available resources. The total cost of the technology used in this project is Rs 7 lakh.”