Guwahati: India's longest river ropeway shut down for repairs 2 days after inauguration

Guwahati: And now for some sad tidings from Assam's Guwahati. Just two days ago, the much-discussed ropeway over the mighty river Brahmaputra was launched amid a lot of fanfare, and today it's not working.

As per reports, an "electricity problem" has brought this proud new addition to the city to a screeching halt on Wednesday.

"It has been running without a hitch since the construction. However, due to the fluctuation of the power, the motor has been damaged. The problem first surfaced yesterday, but we were able to run it. Today, however, things got out of hand and we were compelled to halt it for repairs", M.K.Baig, the Manager of the project, informed The Sentinel Digital.

Engineers and technicians now busy at work an trying to fix the technical snag. According to these people, electricity fluctuation and genset problems have rendered the ropeway non-functional within days of its grand inauguration by Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Siddhartha BhattacharyaBuilt at a cost of Rs 56.08 crore the ropeway was inaugurated by Assam finance, health and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday amid grand dreams of increasing the connectivity between the two banks of the river in Guwahati.

The 'Guwahati Passenger Ropeway' across the Brahmaputra – the longest river ropeway in India connecting Kachari Ghat on the south bank of the Brahmaputra with Rajaduwar behind the Doul Govinda Temple on the north bank – was launched on Friday. It took long 11 years to inaugurate the ropeway after the laying of its foundation stone. The two-km ropeway has two cabins – each with a capacity of 30 commuters and two crew members.

However, at present during the corona pandemic, each of the two cabins will carry only 15 passengers on each trip. The fare is Rs 60 for a one-way journey and Rs 100 for both ways. The duration of the service is from 8 am to 6 pm at present. The ropeway covers the distance now in 8-9 minutes.

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