Sunday, May 18, 2003
Sunday, May 18, 2003 |
| Southern States | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Southern States
-
Andhra Pradesh
By Our Staff Reporter
In contrast to other places where tourist activities are to be promoted to mobilise crowd, the AP Tourism has rightly identified that Tirupati, teeming with thousands of visitors everyday, is one place where the `market' is readily available and no publicity blitzkrieg is required, when they planned this Rs.110-crore project. Now, the ropeway project is likely to outgrow its prospective role of being a mere tourist attraction and could become a major pollution-free mass transportation system to Tirumala, to make it as pristine as it was before the advent of motor transport. In fact, it is only an extension of the electric bus project which the TTD had conceived earlier to bring out a non-polluting mass transportation system. A survey conducted by Rail India Technical and Engineering Services (RITES) way back in 1986 found the project feasible, but the same was later shelved. After overcoming the initial hue and cry from conservative sections that the `materialistic' concept aimed at entertaining the pilgrims could affect the sanctity of the hills, the ropeway project has made a giant stride in the process of getting environmental clearance. The visit of V. K. Bahuguna, Inspector-General in the Union Ministry of Forests, to Tirupati a couple of days ago, for the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a major step towards realising the AP Tourism's dream project. The senior official, accompanied by the APTDC Executive Director, C.B.Malasi, and the TTD's Conservator of Forests, V.Venkatramaiah, made a comprehensive study of the project and reportedly found the damage to the environment as minimum, that could be compensated by `greening' other parts. The 6.1-km ropeway, said to be the longest stretch in the country with a considerably higher gradient, will have 150 cable cars with a seating capacity of eight each. A guesstimate put the number of trips a day at 10, which means that a bulk of the pilgrims currently going by buses and private jeeps will switch to the ropeway. An official in the Tourism Department said that it would be a major step in decongesting Tirumala and cleansing the abnormally high carbon deposits due to the plying of hundreds of vehicles daily. The air and noise pollution generated by the vehicles will drastically come down and there will be no threat to the wildlife, as the ropeway would run at a higher altitude on electric power. Reliable sources said that a captive power generation plant would also be sanctioned at a later stage to run the ropeway project. Meanwhile, the APSRTC is adopting a cautious approach in estimating the likely losses it could incur on its most-fetching Tirupati-Tirumala route. Though the ropeway travel is priced at Rs.75, it is of the view that the same could go up to Rs.120 by the time the project gets completed. As the RTC could lose a minimum of 3,000 tickets a day, it has started seeking other avenues to win over passengers. Also, the corporation is confident that the ropeway's high-end price would deter the conservative devotees of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, who form its major customer base.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
