The proposed Wayanad-Kozhikode ropeway project linking Lakkidi with Adivaram is one step closer to implementation thanks to the decision of Western Ghats Development Limited to immediately get hold of the required extent of land clearing Forest Department formalities.
Nearly 12 acres will be purchased in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts to set up ropeway stations and related facilities.
The company, supported by the District Tourism Promotion Councils of Kozhikode and Wayanad districts, hopes to complete the project by 2021. The total investment is around ₹70 crore.
The land identified for the project has coffee and rubber plantations which will have to be converted into another category as specified by the Forest Department in the official revenue records. Also, the company will have to remit ₹9.5 lakh as development fee per hectare to the department.
According to Forest officials, the project will be cleared provided the department gets an equal extent of land. Going by the preliminary estimate, the project will take up nearly two-and-a-half hectares, and the same extent of land will have to be purchased by the implementing agency and handed over to the department after clearing the registration formalities, they said.
Once realised, it will be the longest ropeway project in south India. It will be 3,670 metres long and will have the capacity to transport 400 persons per hour.
Forest officials said the project faced no hurdles for now. “It has been found feasible by the department, and we have promised all possible support to speed up the initiative,” they added.
The project, if realised in time, will be one of the biggest tourist attractions in Kozhikode and Wayanad. It is being supported by the Tourism Department as it will be a solution to the hazardous journey covering several hairpin curves on the mountain pass. It is also highlighted as the safest medium of transport across ghat road.
The project got a fillip when the Wayanad Chamber of Commerce and the Kozhikode District Tourism Promotion Council led by then District Collector U.V. Jose organised a discussion in the city on the scope of implementing it with private partnership.
Interestingly, the Wayanad Chamber of Commerce had also expressed willingness to take the lead role in implementing the project. Besides, the Collectors of Wayanad and Kozhikode had given green signal for the project as it was found to be the available option to popularise tourism in the Malabar region.
