Uttarakhand

• 13 Sep 2021

Ropeway Construction

Why in News

• Recently, a MoU was signed between the Department of Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India. With this, Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country to sign a contract with the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, Government of India for the construction of a ropeway.

Key Points

• In the presence of Chief Secretary Dr. SS Sandhu, Yugal Kishore Pant, Additional Secretary Tourism and Additional Chief Executive Officer, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council and Prakash Gaur, Chief Executive Officer, NHLML, Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways signed the MoU on behalf of Uttarakhand Tourism.
• Its main objective is to facilitate easy access to more tourists and devotees to various religious and adventure tourist destinations in Uttarakhand and to make tourist movement available throughout the year.
• The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, Government of India has been made the nodal department for ropeway construction in Uttarakhand.
• For the construction of the ropeway, work will be started by preparing the DPR on behalf of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
• Kedarnath Ropeway, Nainital Ropeway, Hemkund Sahib Ropeway, Panchkoti to New Tehri, Auli to Gaursu, Munsiyari to Khalia Top and Rishikesh to Neelkanth in the first phase by the National Highway Logistics Management Limited (NHLML) under the control of the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. The process of DPR formation and construction of seven ropeways till Mahadev will be done in collaboration with the state government.
• Earlier, the tourism department has taken action to build and operate the Mussoorie, Purnagiri and Surkanda Devi ropeways on PPE mode. Out of this, the operation of Surkanda Devi Ropeway will be started by the end of this year.

Nanda Devi Mahotsav

Why in News

• On September 11, 2021, the 119^th seven-day Nanda Devi Mahotsav was formally inaugurated in the auditorium of Shri Ram Sevak Sabha in Nainital, Uttarakhand.

Key Point

• On this occasion the Chief Guest Nilesh Anand Bharane (Deputy Inspector General of Police, Kumaon Region) said that the Nanda Devi Mahotsav is part of Nainital’s special identity. Organising such festivals is very important for preservation and promotion of the native culture while also motivating the younger generation.
• Various cultural and religious programmes were also performed on the occasion. Folk dances and other presentations added to the enthusiasm and gaiety of the locals and devotees.
• Twenty one saplings presented by environmentalist Yashpal Rawat, which will be planted to compensate for the plantain to the chopped at Sariyatal were also worshipped on the occasion.
• Joint Magistrate Prateek Jain informed that on September 14 (Ashtami), the idols of the goddesses will be kept for the devotees to pay their obeisance and at a time 30 devotees will be allowed to do so one by one.