NEW DELHI: THE Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has constituted an empowered committee to develop standards and certification systems for ropeways and allied components. The ‘national framework for technical codes, certifications, commissioning and safety audits’ of ropeways to be devised by the committee aims to provide a structured approach to managing risks, verifying adherence to standards and reglations, and preventing untoward incidents or failures.
With the ropeway sector growing rapidly, officials said it is essential to create an institutional framework to coordinate technical standards and collaboration between state and Union territory governments; focusing primarily on ensuring public safety.
The panel – Empowered Committee for Ropeways Technical Evaluation, Certification and Safety (EC-Rope-TECS) – will be headed by Director General (Road Development and Special Secretary) and comprise Chief Engineer, MoRTH, head of the department of the bureau of Indian standards dealing with ropeway systems and allied infrastructure, and technical representatives from states or UTs with significant experience in implementation of ropeway systems, as members.
Three Centre-nominated experts from institutions of national importance with knowledge of ropeways, four experts from the industry with significant experience in implementation and the Commissioner of Ropeways Systems Safety will also be on the panel.
“Considering the rapidly expanding ropeways sector as a means of transportation and mobility, there is a need to establish an institutional structure for the setting and coordination of technical standards, certifications, processes and audit among state and UT governments with primary focus on public safety,” officials said.
To improve last-mile connectivity in remote and hilly regions, the Centre, in the Budget 2022, announced the National Ropeways Development Programme – Parvatmala – under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The target was to develop over 250 ropeway projects covering 1,200 km within five years to provide a sustainable alternative to conventional road transport. The ministry has already kicked off the process for preparing comprehensive reports to check scope and feasibility of the development of ropeway projects.