Nandi Hills cable car project takes off

BENGALURU: Ever taken the winding road to the top of Nandi Hills, just 60km out of Bengaluru? Soon, tourists can travel from the foothills to the hill top, in a cable car ­ a long pending project which promises to give a majestic view of the hill and the earth below.

The department of tourism floated tenders on Tuesday for the selection of consultants to develop a ropeway at Nandi Hills, and ground work for the project is set to begin within a few months.

The tender document issued by Chandrashekar Doddamani, joint director (project management unit), department of tourism, a copy of which was accessed by TOI, invites interested consultant firms to submit proposals by the second week of June. “We will be opening the technical proposals on June 12, following which the consultancy will be finalized to develop the project,“ said an official.

According to the tourism department, the plan is to have two parallel ropeways carrying multiple cable cars, each with the capacity to carry around 20 people. The cable car project will not only add to the thrill of hundreds of visitors to Nandi Hills, situated at an altitude of 1,848 feet from the sea level, but go a long way in cutting down vehicular traffic on the road going up the hillock.

The project will provide pollution-free transport at the tourism hotspot which is a much sought after destination for weekend travellers from Bengaluru, Chikkaballapur and Kolar.

Officials in the tourism department said the plan is to install parallel ropeways between Kuduvathi, a village at the foot of the hill, up to Sri Yoganandeeshwara Swamy Temple on the hilltop, covering a distance of 1.6 km. The temple is also a few metres away from Tipu Drop, from where visitors can have a panoramic view around. The cost of construction of the ropeway is estimated to be around Rs 30 crore.

Also, Kuduvathi, located about 500m from Karahalli Cross (where Nandi Hill Road links it with Ballari Road), will be a good access point for visitors, officials point out.Vehicle parking facility, book ing counters and other amenities will come up near Kuduvathi village, where 9 acres of land has been acquired for the purpose.

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On two more hillocks

Department officials said ropeway projects will also be taken up at Madhugiri monolothic hills in Tumakuru district, and Yadagiri hills in Yadgir district.

“We have floated a common tender inviting consultants for the ropeway project on all three hillocks,“ said an official.

It was late actor Shankar Nag's dream

The Nandi Hills ropeway project was first conceived by late actor Shankar Nag, who had held discussions with the state government to realize it in the 1980s. He along with his wife and theatreperson Arundhati Nag had even prepared a blueprint for the project. Shankar had plans to set up an amusement park atop the hill as well.

However, after Shankar's death in September 1990, the project went into cold storage. In 2004, the horticulture department took up a survey to implement it. However, the lack of political will left the project in the lurch again, and it was later transferred to the tourism department.

The project received a boost when the state government launched its new tourism policy in 2014. In 2016, the Chikkaballapur tourism council began feasibility studies on the project and submitted a related report to the tourism department.

The department has now floated tenders to implement the project.