A 3-km ropeway across the ghat road linking Kozhikode and Wayanad districts, one of the dream projects of the Tourism Department, is one more step closer to reality with the Divisional Forest Office likely to recommend it to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
The first round of discussions on the feasibility of the ₹50-crore project by Tourism and Forest authorities was held here recently. Forest officials said they would fully cooperate with the project as no pollution or environmental issues were involved.
“So far, there has been no major technical hurdles,” Divisional Forest Officer K.K. Sunil Kumar, under whose division the forest region on the proposed ropeway route comes, told The Hindu on Saturday. “If everything goes well, we can complete the ropeway in two years.”
Forest land
During preliminary discussions, the Forest officials exuded confidence in handing over the required extent of forest land to construct the intermediate towers at the necessary points. However, an equal extent of land would have to be given back to the Forest Department to compensate the loss. The mode of exchanging the land and the further terms and conditions would be discussed only after finalising the ropeway blueprint.
“As we have no provisions to directly take over land from private individuals to compensate the forest land, a government department will have to mediate the procedures. All these possibilities will work out only after winning timely approval from the Union government,” says Mr. Sunil Kumar. He points out that the Forest department will be mainly looking into the proper compliance of the Forest (Conservation) Act and in this case, there are no such big concerns.
As no major hurdles have been pointed out at the first round of meeting, the office-bearers of the Wayanad Chamber of Commerce have also expressed interest in cooperating with the project, which will help travellers bypass the hairpin road in 15 minutes, all the while enjoying the scenic locales.
