BENGALURU: Are you someone who loves to watch the sunrise perched atop the famous Nandi Hills? Then here is some good news for you. The Karnataka Cabinet on Friday gave its approval for the construction of a ropeway at Nandi Hills under the public-private-participation (PPP) model. This move is expected to boost tourism at Nandi Hills, located in Chikkaballapura district at a distance of 60 km from Bengaluru.
The ropeway is expected to built at a cost of Rs 93.40 crore and will be created under the Design Build Operate Transfer Model.The ropeway will be 2.93km long and will have 18 towers. Each round-trip will take 28 minutes. Cabinet has approved 50 cabins for the ropeway project where passengers will be seated. In one cabin, 10 people can be accommodated.
“A feasibility study was done and the model on which the project can be executed has been prepared. Now, tenders will be floated and the companies will submit their expression of interests. Many individuals and companies have visited Nandi Hills and given their ideas. Even though the Cabinet has approved the project, orders are now awaited to start the next course of work,” an official from the Tourism Department told TNIE. Officials in the government, however, admit that clearance and a feasibility study from the Forest Department is still pending.
“Forest Department approval is essential as pillars need to be erected in forest land. But this subject of obtaining clearance will arise when the expression of interest is to be obtained,” the official said. Forest officials, however, are not keen on the execution of the project as they feel that the fragile ecosystem will be disturbed.
“The forest here is different. It houses sloth bears, leopards and small and large herbivores and carnivores. The area is also prone to forest fire. The sensitivity of the region and the pressure it has been experiencing since the last many years is visible as the region has experienced many earthquakes, landslides and washing down of mud from the hill accumulated over the years.
Last year’s unprecedented and untimely rain has made the forest here more vulnerable. Such projects will not just hamper the fragile biodiversity, but make it vulnerable to more such incidents as no ecological study has been done here ever,” said a forest department official.
Chikkaballapura MLA and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar tweeted, “With the ropeway project, Nandi Hills will become an international tourist destination. The site is already famous for its rich biodiversity, trekking, viewpoint and historic Bhoganandeshwara temple.”
Vrishabhavathi water for irrigation
BENGALURU: The Karnataka Cabinet on Friday gave administrative approval to a project worth Rs 840 crore to treat the Vrishabhavathi river water and supply it to farmers in Nelamangala taluk in Bengaluru Rural district and Tumakuru taluk to raise crops. The project will not only help the revival of the river in which Bengaluru’s sewage flows, but also help in filling of tanks in the dry region.