Srinagar, Aug 19: A Ropeway to the top of the Shankaracharya Hillock in Srinagar, also popularly known as Kohi Sulaiman, is all set to come up along with five other projects in J&K. The ropeway is designed to provide easier connectivity to visitors visiting the Shankaracharya temple on top of the hillock, officials said.
The project is one of the six other ropeway projects approved in J&K, as part of the central “Parvatmala Scheme” and will be implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in public private partnership.
While the idea of a ropeway to the Shankaracharya Temple was mooted several times in the past as well the idea didn’t get traction and was shelved on the grounds that the project would involve cutting of a large number of trees.
The hillock has lately some as an important eco reservist of Srinagar city with the growth of a major forest and wildlife in it.
Pertinently, the hillock is an important geographical landmark in Srinagar as well, with one side of it housing the top political leaders of J&K, a palace of the former Maharajas – the Hari Palace – and other important establishments.
Among the other six destinations likely to be connected by ropeways are Shiv Khori cave shrine in Reasi district, seven lakes in Rajouri-Poonch and Ramban to Sanasar in Jammu region and and one location in Sonamarg in Kashmir valley, reports said.
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting Union Budget for 2022-23, had announced the National Ropeways Development Programme—“Parvatmala” for Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North-East.
