According to Chauhan, the ropeway aims at decongesting the capital city. The foundation stone of ropeway was laid on 23 June 2015, but nothing has been done on the ground so far even as Dharamshala-Macleodganj skyway was opened for public yesterday.
The 3600 meters long skyway will transport about 1000 people in an hour time on one side. “This project not only will promote tourism in Shimla city, but also rid the city of its traffic jam”, he said.
Once the project is in place, Municipal Corporation Shimla would have an additional income of about Rs 11 crore per year, which would have given impetus to the development of the city, Chauhan said.
In the year 2015, three ropeway projects were approved in the state. These included Tutikandi- Jodha Niwas Mall Road in Shimla, Dharamsala to Mcleodganj and Himani Chamunda ropeways in Kangra and their foundation stones were also laid, Chauhan said.
But today, the ropeway was started from Dharamshala to Mcleodganj and but the work of The Mall road-Tutikandi ropeways in Shimla has not been started by the government yet, Chauhan said.
He said the government is showing no interest in starting work on this multifaceted project. This has demonstrated the discriminatory attitude of the government towards the development of Shimla city, Chauhan charged.
Former Mayor alleged the stalling of work on Tuttikandi-Mall Road ropeway has raised a big question mark on the functioning of the Shimla MLA and urban development minister, Suresh Bhardwaj.
He said considering the geographical location of Shimla city the state government should have given the top priorities to the projects in the city to maintain its beauty and development.
Chauhan further charged that the plight of other projects started by the previous municipal corporation is no better. It seems the present government is giving benefit to the contractors as only concrete poles are being installed that has ruined greenery and beauty of Shimla city, Chauhan charged.
Chauhan charged that this exposes the discriminatory and lax functioning of the Government, Municipal Corporation Shimla and the Urban Development Minister towards the city.
He said due to this the image of the city as queen of hills is getting tarnished. “CPIM will launch a stir against the government by mobilising people on this discriminatory attitude of the BJP government towards the Shimla city”, he warned.
