A team of technocrats accompanied by revenue and highways authorities examined the feasibility of establishing rope car facility in the Kodaikanal hills on Friday.
The team, reliable sources who had knowledge about the development, said that the new facility would give an impetus to the tourism sector in a long run as visitors may opt for the rope car for sight seeing and others.
As a first step, the team from Chennai Metro Corporation had embarked upon the hill station to physically see the viability and the technical aspects for themselves as per the plan chalked out by the revenue officials.
The officials said that they had suggested rope car from Vattakanal to Vellakavi village and to Kumbakarai water falls. There were also plans to establish the facility in the upper hills for a distance of about 10 km which would pave way for decongestion of traffic and attract more visitors to see for themselves the spots with more clarity. The time taken to travel would also be very minimal and thus attract even the elderly and differently abled persons.
The revenue officials said that for long number of years the residents in the Vellakavi village carried their essentials and other commodities with the help of ponies due to absence of roads. They could not commute to other habitations or reach the town easily. The rope car, which has been proposed touching the Vellakavi village, would be a boon as the villagers could get infrastructural facilities like road and light as well, they added.
Commenting on the rope car facility, an official from the Department of Tourism in Chennai said that it is a good beginning. Kodaikanal is a place which attracts people from different segments in the society. The government is keen to provide such infrastructure and when implemented, the hill station would be the most preferred destination for the tourists, he added.
