The Sikkim government on Friday conducted a trial run of a cable car service from the base of the Rock Garden to near the statue of Guru Padmasambhava at Samdruptse, a project that is expected to bring in more tourists to the South district.
The 640m- long ropeway is being built by the Sikkim tourism and civil aviation department. The project was launched in 2007 and is likely to be opened for tourists in two months. The ropeway has 12 gondolas with four seats and seven pillars. The rate for the ride is yet to be fixed.
The tourism and civil aviation minister, Bhim Dhungel, along with the secretary of his department, Chewang Zangpo, took the first ride on Friday. " The cable car service will boost the tourism industry in South Sikkim. More than one lakh tourists visit South Sikkim a year. The ropeway will be an added attraction for the visitors," said the minister.
It took more than 10 minutes to cover the stretch. The Rock Garden is located 3km from the South district headquarters, Namchi. The work was assigned to Calcutta- based private company Damodar Ropeways.
Lakpa Sherpa, the superintending engineer of the tourism department, said another ropeway would be built from Namchi Bazaar to Rock Garden, a distance of 2km, and linked to the other one.
Sikkim already has a ropeway in Gangtok. The 50- seater cable car service is from Deorali, East Sikkim, to the old secretariat building, covering a distance of around 3km.
Text by Nirmal Mangar; picture by Prabin Khaling
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