A delegation of Himachal Pradesh Government comprising Principal Secretary Transport Jagdish Chander Sharma, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Sanjay Kundu, Chief General Manager Ropeways Corporation Ajay Sharma and General Manager Ropeways Corporation Rohit Thakur along with Manager WAPCOS Prabhakar Satti are on a visit to La Paz, Bolivia. The purpose of the visit is to study the ropeways system as a solution for urban and rural transportation.During the visit, the delegation minutely studied the technology and operations of the La Paz ropeway system and gathered evidence that this system is more robust and economical than underground metro systems especially for cities located in mountainous regions. The delegation had hands on experience of the ropeway systems by visiting various locations using the ropeways, inspected the machinery room and received briefing in their Central Command and Control Room.
The delegation had a meeting with Cesar Dockweiler the CEO Mi Teleferico company and his senior management in their Headquarters. He shared his experience with the delegation and elaborated on the various challenges he encountered during the execution of the project and how these challenges were addressed by support of the government and other stakeholders like citizens, environmentalists, transport service providers and other pressure groups. Dockweiler also assured support of Mi Teleferico and the Bolivian government for implementing similar solutions in Himachal Pradesh.The delegation also visited the Doppelmayr country office and had detailed interaction with experts. During the discussions, the experts from Doppelmayr suggested solutions to mobility problems of mountainous region like Himachal Pradesh. If implemented, the ropeway system can solve not only the mobility problems being faced in cities like Shimla, Dharamshala and Manali but also provide robust and eco-friendly connectivity solutions in rural areas and tourist destinations, they said.