Palampur-Chunja glacier ropeway project delayed

Ravinder Sood

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Palampur, January 3

The Palampur-Thathri-Chunja glacier ropeway project has been hanging fire since long in the absence of financial approval from the Central Government.

Initially, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was to execute the Rs 605 crore project. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, had conveyed to the state government in December 2021 that the NHAI had approved the 13.5-km ropeway project. However, no headway has been made till date.

Official sources told The Tribune that there was a proposal to set up 13 ropeway projects in Himachal and the Palampur-Thathri-Chunja glacier ropeway project was one of them. About six of these projects are at the final stage of completion. The state government has failed to get approval for funding the Palampur ropeway project either by the NHAI or NABARD.

The ropeway will connect Palampur with the Chunja glacier in the Dhauladhars at a height of 12,000-ft. Tourists will be able to reach snow-covered peaks within 31 minutes from Palampur. The state had also prepared a project report for the ropeway in 2019, trying to seek investors. However, no one turned up because of the high project cost and reserved forests.