BENGALURU : Fancy ziplining over the Jog? A zipline will soon be thrown open for adventure lovers at Jog Falls — at 450 metres, it will be Karnataka’s longest, and the country’s second longest zipline.
The Jog Management Authority (JMA) is setting it up along the waterfalls, as part of the Jog Falls Comprehensive Management Plan. JMA members said this will be the second longest zipline in India after Rishikesh. While there are many private and police or defence training ziplines in the state, they are usually 100-250 metres in length.
Shivamogga DC and JMA head K B Sivakumar said this is the first such zipline, and is part of the action plan to improve Jog Falls at a cost of Rs 130 crore. Work on the zipline has started, with setting up of the boarding platform and stringing ropes across the cliffs.
The starting point of the zipline will be near the entry gate of the Yatrinivas, and will culminate at the pathway by the Jog Falls, towards the staircase point on the other side. Operations will start after the monsoon gives over. “We are using only the area in the Jog Falls for the activity. No trees are being cut and there will be no environmental damage.
However, developmental work around Jog Falls is also being taken up, like creating a parking facility from where tourists will be brought in battery-operated vehicles. The adventurists, after ziplining to the other end, will have the option of either walking back to the entry point or use battery-operated vehicles,” he said. Environmentalists and forest officials are, however, not convinced.
“Though the management is with the district administration and tourism department, the area falls under a forest patch. Earlier, the JMA had lit up the falls at night, but it stopped after they understood the environmental impact. This project should be assessed again, before taking up any such activities as they are creating a permanent structure,” a forest official said.