Governor Satya Pal Malik held a detailed meeting with a team of WAPCOS Limited, a government of India Undertaking) headed by chairman cum managing director (CMD) RK Gupta with regard to implementation of smart mobility in urban and hilly areas through ropeways at the Raj Bhavan Jammu on Saturday.
The team from WAPCOS made a presentation and detailed discussions were held on the advantages of putting in place ropeways facilities in Jammu and Kashmir. The governor observed that due to increasing traffic congestion on roads and also to minimize road accidents the establishment of ropeways as urban transport solutions in the state will prove to be highly beneficial.
The governor, according to an official spokesperson, stressed upon the concerned departments to further convene meetings and identify the most feasible areas in the state for establishment of such ropeway projects.
During the meeting, the WAPCOS authorities briefed about various advantages of ropeways which included low space requirement, limited capital investment and operating costs, ability to overfly obstacles, quick to build, connectivity to other transport systems, environmentally sustainable, easy accessibility, positive social impact with increased access to jobs, health and education, safety, lowest operating costs among all transport solutions, lowest maintenance costs among all transport options etc. They stated that such systems can carry up to 12,000 people per hour and have the highest level of incremental scalability. They further said that similar projects have already been initiated in other states such as Himachal Pradesh etc.