Ropeway Project Planned For Aizawl

Aizawl, Apr 19 : The Mizoram government has mooted a novel scheme to raise ropeways over a network of roads in the central part of Aizawl city, said chief minister Lalthanhawla last night over phone.

The scenic hilltop city is plagued with traffic snarls giving commuters a harrowing time everyday.

The chief minister said the longest of this proposed ropeway would be raised over a 2.5km stretch of roadway stretching from the Assembly building to the McDonald Hills in midtown Aizawl.

He said a team of civic development experts, belonging to a Gurgaon-based construction firm, has been conducting a survey in the city to prepare a blueprint for the project.

Such ropeways are now in operation in Meghalaya where they are mainly used to haul goods for cement plants.

The cost of this project would have to be borne by the Centre, Lalthanhawla added.

He said this scheme would be the “most feasible” alternative for Aizawl where the main roads are not wide enough and the construction of ropeways, also known as the skyways, is not expected to cost much.

The chief minister said the earlier Mizo National Front government, led by Zoramthanga, had also planned some other urban schemes like a flyover in the Bangkawn area in the northeastern part of Aizawl, the city’s the entry point from outside, and an underground tunnel along Burrabazar and Treasury Square. He said these projects did not make any headway as the civil engineers and architects perceived them as “too outlandish and bizarre”.

Sources in Aizawl today said the two experts from the ropeway firm, Mukesh Ralhan and Ramesh Sia, called on Lalthanhawla on April 15 in Aizawl to discuss the broad features of this project.

The engineering survey for this ropeway project would take at least six months.