Guwahati: Assam’s Finance minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated India’s longest river ropeway, over the Brahmaputra, in Guwahati on Monday.
The 1.82 km-long ropeway, constructed at a cost of Rs 56 crore, will operate from Kachari Ghat in Panbazar area to Dol Govinda temple in north Guwahati. The point-to-point journey, which used to take almost an hour, can now be undertaken in 7-8 minutes.
A one-way ride will cost Rs 60 and return journey Rs 100.
The ropeway is a twin track, single haul, bi-cable system with two cabins. Each cabin can carry 32 people (30 passengers and two operators) at a time, with an overall capacity of 250 persons per hour.
Guwahati Development Department CEO Umananda Doley said that world-class safety measures have been installed in the ropeway and latest Swiss technologies have been used to make it.
“This is the longest ropeway over any river in the country. It’s 1.82 km long across the Brahmaputra river. We have used rescue cables also and we can say that it is 99 per cent safe,” Doley said.