Rs 200 crores Approved for Country's First Ropeway Transport in Varanasi | 02 Jan 2023

Why In News?

• On January 1, 2023, Kaushal Raj Sharma, Divisional Commissioner of Banaras, Uttar Pradesh, said that tourists coming from all over the world in Banaras will now get the facility of ropeway for the journey from the crowded cantt station to Godaulia, for which a budget of Rs 200 crore has been approved to implement the country's first public transport ropeway on the ground.

Key Points

• Divisional Commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma said that the first installment of the budget will be released in the first week of January to shift the line of public amenities passing through the roadside between Varanasi Cantt and Godaulia in the state.
• After January 15, preparations are being made to shift the line of public facilities. The process of acquisition of identified land for the route will also start in the month of January itself.
• He said that a proposal of Rs 173 crore has been sent by the administration for land acquisition and Rs 28 crore for shifting the line of public amenities. The government has also taken the initiative to release the first installment by approving this budget proposal. After the release of the budget, the work of shifting the water, electricity and other lines passing under the road between Cantt and Godaulia will be started.
• The Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey has identified the construction of Jal Kal, Smart City, GAIL, Jal Nigam, BSNL and Power Department. Apart from this, 1.59 hectares of land has been identified for acquisition for the construction of a 3.75 km ropeway from Cantt railway station to Godaulia intersection, out of which 0.96 hectare is private and 0.63 hectare is government. On the basis of compensation fixed at the circuit rate, Rs 72 crore will be spent on private land and Rs 101 crore on government land.
• Stations and 30 towers are to be built at Cantonment, Bharat Mata Temple, Besant Theosophical Society Rath Yatra, Church and Godaulia intersection. He informed that under the ropeway project, the ropeway work will start in the state in March.