Shillong, June 27: The work has resumed on the Rs 150-crore Shillong Ropeway Project and it is likely to be completed next year.
Informing this on Saturday after carrying out an inspection of the site, Cabinet Minister and South Shillong MLA Sanbor Shullai said he was briefed by officials about progress of the ropeway, which will link Shillong Viewpoint with Madan Laban.
The minister was reviewing Central government-funded projects in his constituency under the Pragati Prabhagat Path Yatra, an initiative marking 12 years of the Modi government.
Shulai said though the contract allows three years for completion, the executing agency KEC-TCL has given assurance of finishing the work in 2027.
The project had been held up for several months due to pending forest clearances and a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Meghalaya High Court.
Shullai said the PIL, filed by “vested interests,” was dismissed by the court in favour of the Tourism Department.
Clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has since been granted, subject to compensatory afforestation of ten trees for every tree felled.
On land acquisition, Shullai said Rs 3 crore has been approved as compensation for the Raid Laban Dorbar, which handed over land for the project. Of this, Rs 1.50 crore has already been released.
Once operational, the ropeway will boost tourism and create jobs, with locals to get first preference in employment and allotment of shops and stalls under an agreement with the Dorbar, Shullai said.
