The Hindu : National : The Gulmarg Gondola aloft

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Friday, Apr 01, 2005

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National

The Gulmarg Gondola aloft

By Shujaat Bukhari

GULMARG, MARCH 31. Tourism in Kashmir, which is on the path of revival, is set to get a boost. The Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation (JKCCC) is making the second phase of the `Gulmarg Gondola' operational, taking it to the heights of the Afarwat peak.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, is scheduled to inaugurate the multi-crore-rupee project on April 8, a day after the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service is flagged off from Srinagar.

The second phase from Kangdoori to Afarwat came up in record time. The State Government is hoping to attract skiers and adventure tourists from around the world. The 2.5-km ropeway is complete and the trials are through. It will connect the bowl-shaped Kongdoori Valley with the 4,390-metre Afarwat.

"This is the highest ropeway in the world and has its own significance for tourism in Kashmir," said Farooq Ahmed Shah, the chief executive officer of the Gulmarg Development Authority, of which the JKCCC is a part. The JKCCC is one of the State Government's few profit-making undertakings.

Mr. Shah said it will be the only one in the world that takes skiers to a height of 4,390 m. "It will attract skiers as well as trekkers and adventurers to the picturesque State."

Joint venture

The Gulmarg Gondola, as the ropeway project is known, is a joint venture between the State Government and a French company, Poma Glaski. Engineers from the State and the company have been working in huge drifts of snow to erect towers and lay cables in the area close to the Line of Control. The so-far deserted area overlooks Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

The French company built the only other cable car in Kashmir, connecting the Gulmarg ski resort to Kongdoori at a height of 3,930 m. Work on the Gulmarg system was delayed by more than eight years after it was abandoned in 1990 by French technicians when two engineers were briefly abducted by militants. It was completed in 1998. The Afarwat project, due to be completed last year, was delayed owing to bad weather.

"The Afarwat peak is a god-given gift to Kashmir. With a cable car operating, it will certainly attract adventurous skiers from around the world," a tourist official said.

"Ours is the cheapest ski destination," the Director-General of Tourism, Mohammad Saleem Beg, said. "For Rs. 1,000, a skier can have equipment, a gondola ride and accommodation for a day."

The armed forces are happy too about the addition of infrastructure in Gulmarg. "The opening of the cable car will help us train soldiers in tougher terrain," said an officer at the High Altitude Warfare School here.

The area last month hosted an international cross-country ski event. Officials said it was to send the message that the region could hold top ski events.

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