Road ministry sets up an empowered committee for ropeways standards and certification
'The ministry hereby establishes the Empowered Committee for Ropeways Technical Evaluation, Certification and Safety (
EC-Rope-TECS
) to establish and recognise technical codes and standards suited to national requirements, certification systems for ropeways and its components, commissioning requirements, safety standards, periodic inspections and audits,' it said.
'Besides, it will undertake technical investigations in case of an incident affecting public safety in the construction, operations or maintenance of ropeways systems,' it added in an office memorandum issued on Thursday.
The ministry argued that there is a need to establish an institutional structure for the setting and coordination of technical standards, certifications, processes, audit and coordination amongst state and union territory governments with primary focus on public safety, considering the rapidly expanding ropeways sector as a means of transportation and mobility.
The 14-member empowered committee will be headed by the director general road development and special secretary and will have technical experts and representatives from states and union territories as well as industry along with the head of Bureau of Indian Standards.
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The commissioner of metro railway safety (CMRS) has been designated ex officio Commissioner of Ropeways Systems Safety (CRSS) for the safety audit of ropeways to be established by or on behalf of or with the partnership of the central government or any central public sector enterprise.
To enhance last-mile connectivity in remote and hilly regions, the government had in Budget 2022 announced the National Ropeways Development Programme – Parvatmala under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
The plan is to develop over 250 ropeway projects covering 1,200 km within five years through the National Highway Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), under the ministry of road transport and highways with focus on states of Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, and Maharashtra.
Aligned with the 'Make in India' initiative, the programme mandates at least 50% indigenous components in ropeway construction.
The government is of the view that with minimal environmental impact, ropeways offer a cost-effective, energy-efficient, and reliable transport solution for India's challenging terrains.
While Varanasi Urban Ropeway and Gaurikund-Kedarnath Ropeway is under construction, the union cabinet has recently approved the 12.4 km Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib Ji ropeway and the 12.9 km Sonprayag to Kedarnath ropeway to be executed under the design, build, finance, operate, and transfer (DBFOT) model in a public-private partnership (PPP) framework.
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