Crores of rupees have been spent in four years supposedly on maintenance of the ropeway at Auli, but there is no surety about when the operation of this ropeway will resume.
Though much time and money has been spent, the failure of the executing company to resume operation of the ropeway raises questions at the functioning of this company. When asked about this, the departmental officials concerned provide evasive answers.
Following the end of the monsoon season, the weather in the mountainous regions of Uttarakhand becomes quite pleasant. The weather in this region nowadays is pleasant with lush green bugyals- high altitude alpine meadows, presenting a sight that attracts a large number of tourists every year. In the past, this season used to see the arrival of a considerable number of domestic and international tourists at Auli.
However, due to Government apathy and anomalies in various works, Auli is bereft of tourists this year. The absence of tourists is also proving detrimental to the local businessmen. It was being expected that organising the South Asian Federation (SAF) Winter Games here in 2010 would popularise Auli in the international sphere. The ropeway was functioning here during the SAF Winter Games but since then it has been out of operation. The ropeway was briefly made to operate for about a week during the national Junior Skiing Championship held here earlier this year. After that it was shut down again in order to facilitate completion of incomplete works.
The Jammu and Kashmir based Space Age company is working on the ropeway. According to sources, the company has contacts in the State administration. This is one of the reasons why the ropeway work has remained with this company in spite of tenders being invited for this work by the authorities. Deadlines were set repeatedly for the completion of work on the ropeway but none of these were met. It is now being said that the ropeway work will be completed by the end of September. However, locals are doubtful considering the work record of the company so far. They question the need for continuing the services of this company that has not been able to facilitate regular operation of the ropeway in four years.