Malai ropeway dinuhos, malai road chaahina
In July 1993, when a cloudburst washed away several bridges and parts of the Prithvi highway, Kathmandu was virtually cut off from essential supplies as trucks carrying everything from vegetables to salt to petrol were stranded. The only link that continued to supply goods was the ropeway from Hetauda. Given the terrain and weather conditions in Nepal, ropeways provide an appropriate, sustainable option to roads. In economic terms too, a ropeway costs very little, about npr Rs 1.5 to npr Rs 2.0 million (us $0.02 million to us $0.027 million) per km. The cheapest green hill road costs twice as much per km while a single-lane gravel road costs four times more. A ropeway also manages distance more naturally, such as across two hills, whereas a road would need to go round several times to bridge the same distance. Though modern ropeways or cable cars do need specialised maintenance crews, and repairs are not always easy in remote areas, they require less intensive maintenance than roads and can be managed locally by the people who use them. They are also reusable; in fact the norm with construction ropeways is to simply dismantle in one place and put up in another, a practice not possible with roads. Nepal's principal industry is tourism, and busloads of tourists go to the few places that are connected by road. But the experience is anything but exhilarating, despite the drive through the breathtaking scenery of Phulchoki, Sarangkot or Hattiban. Ropeways would bring in the necessary tourists unobtrusively without the construction activity, the diesel fumes and the noise of the road.
Cost of constructing and
maintaining hill roads in Nepal | | Type of road | Construction cost (US $ million per metre) | Full cost of maintenance (approx US $ million per year) | | Single-lane metalled | 0.174-0.208 | 0.028-0.042 | | Single-lane gravell | 0.097-0.111 | 0.020-0.022 | | Green | 0.042-0.056 | 0.008-0.011 | | Source: Ropeways in Nepal, p 231 | |
