Reaching Elephanta caves will soon get easier. Currently, the only mode of transport are ferries from the Gateway of India that take around an hour. But now, the Central government and the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) have agreed to construct an 8 km ropeway from Mumbai to Elephanta caves in Gharapuri Island. The ropeway will take just 14 minutes.
This will be the first project across the sea in the country. The project will work on a public-private partnership model, and MbPT plans to get all statutory clearances by August 2019.
It is expected that the project will start by next month and will be completed by October 2022. As per a report in Mumbai Mirror, MbPT chairperson Sanjay Bhatia said that the ropeway will help in increasing the tourism.
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According to MbPT official, the initial plan was to construct 30-seater cable cars from Sewri, but that would have disturbed migratory flamingos. However, now the landing terminal has been shifted a little over a km away to Haji Bunder. Around 10,000 sqm land will be allotted for the construction of the terminal.
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The Gharapuri island, which has one of the oldest caves in India, has been declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
