india

Updated: Oct 20, 2019 19:22 IST

The holy city of Haridwar will soon have laser-guided automated podcars--the first in the country-- ferrying devotees and tourists across the city while neighbouring Rishikesh and Dehradun will get ropeways, making commute in the hilly terrains easier, this according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the Uttarakhand government with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Uttarakhand’s urban development minister Madan Kaushik said the concept was inspired by similar cost-effective personal rapid transit systems in Germany and the UK which was found to be ideal by a state level committee.

Delhi Metro officials said the pod car and ropeway systems save costs and space and are just right for cities like Haridwar and Rishikesh, situated on the banks of the Ganges and surrounded by hilly terrains and reserved forests.

“We assessed the viability and cost effectiveness of the pod car and ropeway system in the European countries and found them suitable for Haridwar. For different cities we will be opting for varied transport systems suiting local geographical and traffic needs,” Kaushik said.

The personalised podcar corridor for Haridwar will be 8-km in length covering sanctum sanctorum of Brahamkund, Har-Ki-Pauri, to suburban Jwalapur and will have a total of 11 stations.

DMRC director for business development, Som Dutt Sharma said a podcar is like a personal taxi that can accommodate six passengers at a time and is operated through a laser-guided system.

DMRC has been handed out a cheque for Rs 13.65 lakh to carry out onsite assessment and other modalities before it submits the detailed project report (DPR) to the state government in four months’ time.

The planned ropeway project will ferry people from one side of the Ganges to the other, relieving the pressure on the suspension bridge, Ramjhula. Laxman Jhula, another popular 96-year-old suspension bridge was recently declared unsafe and closed down.

Rishikesh has two existing ropeways, both about four decades old, carrying people to the shrines of Mata Mansa Devi and Mata Chandi Devi, located on opposite sides of the river. A ropeway system will also be operated in Dehradun.