Ujjain Mahakaleshwar Temple To Get Ropeway, Will Move 10,000 Tourists A Month

The National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML) invited bids on 01 October to build a 1.99-km-long ropeway from Ujjain Junction Railway Station to Mahakaleshwar Temple in the State of Madhya Pradesh.

This comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the mega ‘Mahakal Corridor’ project in Ujjain on 11 October, which is built on the lines of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project in Varanasi.

Like Kashi Vishwanath, the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain is a ‘Jyotirling’ and a much-revered temple of Lord Shiva.

To be built at an estimated cost of Rs 209.34 crore, the ropeway project shall be executed on design, build, operate and transfer (Hybrid Annuity) basis.

The selected bidder will have to develop the project in a period of 18 months from the date of award of the contract and will be responsible for operation and maintenance of the ropeway project.

The project is expected to help elders and physically challenged people who come to the temple.

14 Projects in Pipeline

In August, the Madhya Pradesh government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to set up 14 ropeways across the state to ease traffic in city and tourist places.

The spots that have been selected to setup ropeways include Ujjain (between railway station to Shri Mahakal Mandir), Orchha (Rajaram Mandir), Gwalior (Gwalior fort to Phoolbagh), Bhopal via Govindpura and Bhopal (Kolar Road).

Ropeways have been also proposed at famous tourism spot and historical sites.

These include Mandu (Mandu entrance gate to Rupmati Palace), Omkareshwar (Siddhkut Jain Mandir to Rajeshwar Ashram), Omkareshwar (Narmada River Bank to Sailani Island), Khajuraho, Raisen, Pachmarhi, Tamia in Chhindwara (Patalkot) and Amarkantak (Doodh dhara to Kapil dhara).

The bids for 1.5-km-long ropeway between Phoolbagh Square and Gwalior fort is expected to be floated in January 2023.

As per the MoU signed between the public works department of MP government and NHLML, the department will make available land required to set up the rope-way along with other logistic support to NHAI.

NHLML, which is a 100 per cent owned SPV of NHAI, is the nodal agency for undertaking works related to development of ropeways in the country.

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