Manali: To get to Rohtang Pass one has to travel 45 Kms from Manali, often when the temperature below freezing point and for many months in winter one cannot reach the pass to view the vast snowfields as the road is snowbound and closed for all types of traffic.
After gift of Rohtang tunnel to Ladakh, the Central Government has plans to to give another gift to the state. That is a 9 Kms long ropeway, to be ready in the next four years, i.e., by 2024.
As we all know, Atal Tunnel has already opened up tourism routes to Leh. This ropeway will also be a major center of attraction. It will be known as Rohtang Rope-Way, which will carry around 1500 people per hour.
An 9 kms long ropeway from Kothi near Manali to Rohtang Pass has been sanctioned by the Himachal Pradesh government, and construction work on the ropeway will begin in November 2020.
According to Amitabh Sharma, Managing Director, Ski Himalayas, the company in-charge of the developmental work, the blueprint of the proposed Rohtang ropeway was shown to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur during their recent visit for the inauguration of Atal Rohtang Tunnel.
Amitabh Sharma told the Hill Post that the ropeway would be completed in four years in three phases. The first phase from Kothi to Gulaba will be a 3-km stretch and will be finished in two years, and 3-km long stretches, each from Gulaba to Marhi and Marhi to Rohtang, will be done in the next phases. The ropeway would enable public visitors to easily travel from Kothi to Rohtang in 21 minutes.
He further disclosed that the budget allocated in this project is INR 540 crore. Once the ropeway is ready, tourists can visit Rohtang Pass, located at a height of 13058 ft, all through the year.
Gulaba, Marhi and Rohtang Pass are some of the most popular tourist spots in Manali, more so in winters when people come to enjoy adventure activities in snow.
Usually, it takes two hours by road to reach from Manali to Rohtang, and traffic jams during summers create nuisance for the public.
Sanjay Dutta, an engineer by qualification but is a journalist by choice.
He has worked for the premier new agency Press Trust of India and leading English daily Indian Express.
With more than a decade of experience, he has been highlighting issues related to environment, tourism and other aspects affecting mountain ecology.
Sanjay Dutta lives in a village close to Manali in Kullu valley of Himachal.
