Construction begins for Jaipur's second passenger ropeway

Construction of the districts second passenger ropeway has started at the Khole Ke Hanuman Temple complex here, an official said.The service -- Annapurna Mata Ropeway -- will be the fifth in the state and the second in Jaipur after Samod Hanumanji Ropeway, District Collector Prakash Rajpurohit said.

Construction of the district's second passenger ropeway has started at the Khole Ke Hanuman Temple complex here, an official said.

The service -- Annapurna Mata Ropeway -- will be the fifth in the state and the second in Jaipur after Samod Hanumanji Ropeway, District Collector Prakash Rajpurohit said. He said the 436-metre ropeway will connect the Annapurna Mata Temple to the Vaishno Mata Temple on the hill housing the Khole Ke Hanuman Temple. The district administration has signed an agreement with the construction company to build the network after which a licence will be issued under the Ropeways Act.

The 85-metre-high ropeway will be supported by five towers and have a capacity of 24 trolleys. It will be able to ferry 800 passengers per hour, an official statement said. The collector has already given instructions to finish the work in two years. Rajpurohit said passenger safety was the biggest priority and special attention should be paid to the quality of construction. The construction company has been directed to provide free rides to children below five years of age and adults above 70 years as well as persons with disabilities once the operating licence is granted, Rajpurohit said.

A journey from one end to the other on the ropeway will take four minutes and 30 seconds during which the trolleys will be stopped twice to give passengers a bird's eye view of Jaipur.