The longest cable car of India was inaugurated today in Guwahati by Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma & Guwahati Development Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya, to carry people across the Brahmaputra river.
The state government had announced about this in a tweet few days back.
The city of Guwahati lies in a valley of the mighty Brahmaputra. Which also happens to be the widest river of the country. As north bank and south bank are significantly apart, it is significantly risky to cross by ferry and many accidents have happened there. Also crossing by the existing bridge takes a very long time.
Although the cable car project was completed long before, the Covid 19 pandemic caused a significant delay in the testing and inspection process. Hence the —- meters long project was opened for public today.
The two compartments of the cable car system were imported from Switzerland. Each has a capacity of 30 passengers. Both of them can be operated to and fro. So whenever one leaves from the north bank of the river, the other one starts from the south bank.
The travel time between Rajaduar ghat of North Guwahati to Kachari of South bank is told to take around 7-8 minutes of one way travel time. This is significantly less than using the existing bridge which takes at least an hour on normal conditions.
Apart from daily commute, this project is expected to be a considerable boost to the city’s tourism arena. It will give a breathtaking 360 degree view of the Brahmaputra river, both the banks and specially the Peacock Island.
The tickets are currently priced at Rs 60 for one way and Rs 100 for returns. Altough the cars can be operated automatically from outside, each trip will have a trained operator on board. He or she can manually operate the car in case of any emergency conditions.
(Feature image source: DD NewsLive)
