Guwahati: Just two days after India’s longest river ropeway was inaugurated with much fanfare in Assam’s Guwahati, it had to be shut down on Wednesday over motor failure.
According to reports, an “electricity problem” caused the ropeway to come to a halt on Wednesday. According to MK Baig, the project manager of the ropeway over the mighty Brahmaputra, it was electrical fluctuations that caused the damage of the motor. He added that the problems surfaced just on Tuesday but they were able to manage it. However, things got out of hand on Wednesday and they had no choice but to stop it.
Also Read: Assam: Watch how is India’s longest ropeway across river Brahmaputra
The ropeway was inaugurated by Assam health and education minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma and Guwahati development department (GDD) minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya on Monday. The highly ambitious project connects Guwahati’s Kachari Ghat in Pan Bazar with North Guwahati. The almost 2-km-long ropeway will massively cut down travel time between the two terminals across the Brahmaputra from around 1 hour to less than 7.5 minutes.
Also Read: Phasing out? RBI didn’t print Rs 2,000 currency note in 2019-20: Report
Not just a means of traffic decongestion, the river ropeway also serves as a tourist attraction as it provides a bird’s eye view of the famous Umananda Temple in the Peacock Island. Also, the Neelachal Hills where Kamakhya temple is situated and a picturesque sunset behind the famed Saraighat Bridge make a breathtaking spectacle along its way.
The exact length of the bi-cable jig-back ropeway is 1.82 km, and it will take 436 seconds, that is, 7.26 minutes to cover the length. A cabin can carry 31 people (30 passengers and 1 operator) at a time, and the ropeway can handle a capacity of 250 persons per hour. However, due to the pandemic each of the two cabins will only carry 15 passengers per trip. The fare is Rs 60 for a one-way trip and Rs 100 for a two-way one. Built at a whopping cost of Rs 56.08 crore, the ropeway saw the day of light 11 years after its works started.
Also Read: 2 cases of COVID-19 reinfection in Telangana; different strains suspected
Trending Stories
- Now, you can plant trees in Nagaland from the comfort of your homes. Here’s how
- Bengal Governor OKs Rajiva Sinha’s name as election commissioner
- Meira Paibis form human chain ‘to safeguard territorial integrity’ of Manipur
- Mamata visiting Odisha train tragedy victims to get political dividend: BJP
- Tripura: Kamalasagar-Kasba border haat likely to reopen by July
- Active Covid cases in country decrease to 2,831
