Ropeway completes one year

Jammu, December 24

The Bhawan-Bhairon Ghat Passenger Ropeway installed by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has completed one year of successful operation. As many as 20 lakh pilgrims have availed the facility of this hi-tech ropeway, which was commissioned on December 24 last year.

Ramesh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, reviewed its functioning at a meeting of the officers concerned here today and stressed adherence to highest safety standards. The Passenger Ropeway Project was completed at a cost of about Rs 85 crore, including its allied infrastructure and related pilgrim-centric facilities. Having two fully enclosed spacious cabins with a carrying capacity of 45 persons in each cabin in one go, the ropeway can carry up to 800 persons per hour.

The ropeway has also considerably reduced the travel time of the one-way journey between Bhawan and Bhairon Temple from one hour to just about three minutes. The project comes to the aid of the elderly and specially-abled pilgrims.