Himachal government’s interaction talks with Swiss government for construction of ropeways important decision: Shanta Kumar

Dharamshala, May 28, 2019: Senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party and former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Shanta Kumar, said that present BJP lead Himachal Pradesh government has made a revolutionary change in the current tourism policy by the decision to negotiate with the Government of Switzerland, for the construction of ropeways in Himachal Pradesh. “HP CM Jai Ram Thakur has done commendable work in this direction”, he said, “This decision for the tourism development in the state along with ropeways is a positive step in the direction of completing the incomplete dream of developing the state in tourism sector.” In a statement issued here today, Shanta Kumar said that in the year 1977 when he became the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, he decided to develop Himachal on the style of Switzerland. “In this direction, the famous tourist destination of Khaziar in Chamba district, was to be developed as Mini Switzerland, and a spot in Switzerland was to be developed as Mini Himachal to increase tourism in both the countries on mutual basis, but with the change in government the project was lost" said Shanta. Shanta Kumar said that in the later years all the formalities were completed a Ropeway construction in Palampur. The work was carried forward with the help of Ved Prakash Goyal, my friend and leader of Bharatiya Janata Party . He added that a discussion was conducted with an entrepreneur from Mumbai and the foundation stone of Bandla-Dauladhar Rajju Marg was laid in presence of Piyush Goel. But that work was also incomplete. Shanta kumar said, “The new tourism policy of Himachal Pradesh will be a new milestone for the development of tourism in the state. The rapidly growing tourism industry in the world and new tourism policy in Himachal will attract more investors. The speed at which the tourism development is taking place in Himachal, the days are not far away when Himachal will becomes the first state in the country to end poverty and unemployment due to its tourism industry.” The Himachal Pradesh government is planning to introduce the ropeway transport system used in countries such as Bolivia, Switzerland and Austria in remote and inaccessible area of the state for providing all-weather connectivity. “The system could help in providing all weather connectivity to inaccessible areas in Himachal Pradesh”, said Sanjay Kundu, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, who recently led a delegation of government officials to Bolivia, Switzerland and Austria to study the ropeway system as a solution for urban and rural transport. The delegation toured the manufacturing unit, studied the quality of material and manufacturing process and got first-hand experience about the various types of cable car cabins used for different applications, few of them are manufacturing chair lifts, cable cars, gondolas etc and has produced over 14,600 installations in 89 countries.