Bhubaneswar: Forest Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha laid the foundation stone for the aerial ropeway project and inaugurated the toy train facility in Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) during the State-level Wildlife Week function on Friday.
Work on the aerial ropeway project starts this month after a long wait of around 10 years. The Nandankanan Zoological Park had signed an agreement with Kolkata-based Damodar Ropeway Infra Limited (DRIL) on October 5 to construct the project and make it functional within 18 months.
It will be a Monocable Fixed Grip Pulsed Ropeway, which will have a capacity of carrying 400 Persons/Hour and the total cost of the project will be approximately 13 crores. The government has accorded all necessary permissions to the firm for the project.
The total Aerial Difference between Zoological Park and Botanical Garden will be approximately 620 metres. Out of this 620 metres length, approximately 480 metres will be without any Pillar support and will cross a lake between Zoological Park and Botanical Garden with a maximum height of 36 metres from the lake and provide a scenic bird-eye view to the tourists.
While 12 cabins will be operated, each of these will have the capacity to accommodate three persons. This ropeway system will be built with state of art technology which will further add to the tourist attraction of Nandankanan & Odisha.
The toy train facility that was stopped in 2014 resumes from today. The engine and coaches have been procured from a New Delhi-based firm at a cost of around Rs 82 lakh.
