Ropeways Revolutionising last-mile connectivity

While the national infrastructure pipeline powered the growth of the transportation framework improving the nation’s first mile connectivity, challenges of congestion in cities and inaccessibility to hilly areas persisted. Parvatmala Pariyojana taps the huge potential of ropeways to address urban congestion and last mile connectivity in mountainous regions. In a very interesting and in-depth conversation, Prashant Jain – Vice President, National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), outlined the government’s ambitious ropeway targets for implementation by 2030.

We consider ropeways as airspace industry and passenger security and safety are of prime importance. Currently, there are integrated solutions in the ropeway technology itself. In case of failure, the gondola will automatically come to the nearest tower or station.

India in the past 60 years has had only about 75 kms of ropeway systems installed. It had previously been a state subject, not given much of a window to expand. As first mile connectivity was achieved with highways and other modes of transportation, ropeways was found to be the only solution which could complete end-to-end connectivity. The Parvatmala Pariyojana seeks to revolutionise mobility with cable technology, enabling seamless urban and last-mile transit. Investment opportunities till March 2030 have been projected at USD 4.4 billion with a pipeline of 250 kms across 71 projects.

Globally, France has over 4000 ropeway projects followed by USA and Austria with 2000, Switzerland with 1700, Japan with 170 and India, 71. The first, under the central scheme, is the Varanasi ropeway urban mobility project. It has been aligned with the Indian Railways such that passengers disembarking at the Varanasi railway station enter the ropeway facility after crossing a foot overbridge. They can directly reach Kashi Vishwanath temple after three stations in about 3.85 kms of the length of the alignment.

Adopting mono-cable detachable gondola (MDG) technology, the capacity of this project is 3,000 passengers per hour, with a capacity to transport one lakh passengers every day. The advantage lies in reduced environment emissions and decongestion of the already packed lanes of the city.

One of the landmark projects is the 13 km long Sonprayag to Kedarnath ropeway which will be one of longest projects globally. It will be developed on the world’s most advanced technology available now – the tri-cable or 3S gondola lift, a cable car system that unites the benefits of a gondola lift with those of a reversible cable car system. Other ropeways under implementation include Bijli Mahadev (2.32 kms MDG), Shankaracharya (1.05 kms MDG), Prayagraj (2.20 kms Bi-Cable Jig Back), Ujjain (1.76 kms MDG) and Dhosi Hill (0.88 kms Bi-cable Jig back). Ropeways in the bidding stage include Hemkund, Nainital, Tawang, Kamakhya, Ramtek and Nashik.

Attracting global stakeholders, including Commissioning Consultants who can certify a ropeway project for use as public transport, to invest is key and NHLML reached out with presentations to a global audience at the INTERALPIN fair in Austria with an assessment of the scale of the projects as USD 12 million for Project Design Consulting, USD 132 million for Supervision activities, USD 47 million for Commissioning and Safety audits, USD 3 billion for Private Investment, USD 3 billion for Ropeway components and Annual Operation Hours running to 240,000.

There is also a huge capacity for ‘Make in India’ and inviting investors to set up their major component manufacturing factories here or sourcing them locally to bring down costs, technology transfer and indigenization are all part of the pitch to attract investors. India has a robust PPP model with standardised concessional frameworks, scalable architecture, investor-centric risk sharing and a supportive ecosystem from bidding to commissioning. Added to this is good governance and government backing which projects reliability and stability to the investor community.

There were two components to each bid: civil and electromechanical. Civil contractors are readily available. For electromechanical components, there are OEM suppliers who are globally available and keen to partner with Indian counterparts. Integration of both these components make the ropeway system. To ensure seamless integration, there are international consultants who act as independent engineers with operational experts who act as team leaders.

Safety auditors who certify the commissioning of the ropeway systems on SENS standards are also involved. Globally accredited companies such as WPK are accredited certifier systems and they frequently visit the facility for reviewing designs and requirements based on their experience across the globe.

Building ropeways in the Himalayan mountains, which are relatively young and fragile and prone to avalanches, landslides and inclement weather can be tricky. NHLML assessed sites in terms of geopolitical investigations and drew on the expertise of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and DGRE for study and recommendations. Taking these factors into consideration, it was proposed to adopt the tri-cable detachable gondola technology to increase the distance between towers. In 13 kms of ropeway length, there are about 16 or 17 towers. Those placed directly in the way of the avalanche were shifted during the design phase. If that was not possible then solutions such as wedge protection or deflection walls were provided.

There are multiple generators which have been installed within the ropeway system in case of power failure: if one DG fails then another takes over. If one integrated ropeway rescue system fails then we have vertical rescue systems which will be in place. NHLML being the nodal agency, we are developing advisories and SOPs for regular maintenance and operations which will be issued by the Ministry and we are setting up committees for ropeways at various levels. The SOP framework is under preparation to address the safety, certification and regular audits issue.

“Ropeways have to be monitored. It is like a mechanical system which has to be monitored on a daily basis for every component. There are certain procedures defined in the OEM’s specifications, their maintenance chart that need to be followed. There will have to be non-destructive technology tests which have to be considered at frequent intervals. There is software for a person sitting in a control room to monitor the entire ropeway. The need for continuous monitoring and inspection has to be inbuilt into the operating person or agency. NHLML is very focused on that aspect.”

Ropeway is exempted from environmental clearance. This mode of transport requires very minimal land parcel – 10 by 10 mtrs – for the installation of towers and a station footprint requirement is a maximum 2,000 sq mtrs. There is no carbon emission or any fuel which is required – it runs on electricity and is very silent. Tree cutting will be minimal and only for the footprint of the towers. Even this, we shall try to minimise by adapting and keeping the height above the tree-line to avoid cutting the top of the trees. A minimum ROU is also defined to ensure trouble-free operation of the ropeway system.

The older ropeways systems are compliant to BIS standard which is good. With all the advancement in Europe, there are newer standards that are more comprehensive than the existing ones and the augmentation of the existing standards is being done by NHLML and MoRTH.

“We are in the process of enhancing existing codes based on the international codes and best practices. What will be the rescue time? What is the kind of equipment required – directly in discussion with the States – regular drills, mock drills, safety and rescue in case of any mishaps – mock drills with NDRF and NDMA – the entire ecosystem is under the process of development at this point in time. We are focused and working towards all the safety and security of the ropeway system. We are leaving no stone unturned to making this project a success.”