- The ropeway has increased capacity from 800 passengers per hour to 1,000 by adding extra brand-new cabins
- Online ticket booking is now open and available to book in advance for the Diwali season
- Devotees and tourists can book their tickets in advance on udankhatola.comor by scanning the QR Code as per the time slot suitable to them
NE BUSINESS BUREAU
JUNAGADH, OCT 15
Usha Breco, the pioneer of passenger ropeways in the country and developer of the Girnar Ropeway, on Saturday announced that it has increased the capacity as it gears up to meet the huge rush of devotees at Girnar in the upcoming Diwali festival.
Ahead of the beginning of the peak festival season, Usha Breco undertook pre-planned maintenance of the entire ropeway system in Girnar from October 10 to 15 and also increased the ropeway’s carrying capacity. The ropeway will begin its operations as per plan on October 16.
“We have added six cabins to the ropeway system to take the total number of cabins to 31. As a result, the ropeway’s carrying capacity has gone up from 800 passengers per hour to 1,000 per hour. The 25% additional capacity will ensure the waiting periods will be lower even during the peak Diwali rush. We have also increased the seating capacity and other infrastructure near the upper station of the ropeway, which will allow the devotees to enjoy the scenic beauty of Girnar and its surroundings from the viewing point comfortably,” said Apurv Jhawar Managing Director, Usha Breco.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the Girnar Ropeway on October 24, 2020, and it will complete exactly two years on the occasion of Diwali. Earlier, it used to take 5-7 hours to climb Girnar, but with the ropeway it takes only 7-8 minutes, making the journey very convenient and quick for devotees. The ropeway service has also made visiting Girnar easier, especially for children and senior citizens. More than 13 lakh devotees and tourists have availed of the ropeway’s service so far. The ropeway service is operational from 7 am to 5 pm.
“Around 90,000 had availed of the ropeway service during the 15 days of the Diwali holidays last year. With the Covid-19 pandemic firmly behind us, and more devotees and tourists looking to travel, we expect the number of ropeway users to touch 1 lakh this year,” Jhawar said further.
Usha Breco has also opened online ticket booking for Girnar ropeway exclusively for the Diwali season. Devotees and tourists can book their tickets in advance on www.udankhatola.com or by scanning the QR Code as per the time slot suitable to them. Moreover, this will also allow them to make plans to visit other tourist places in Junagadh. A booking counter has also been set up near Bhavnath parking, where devotees and tourists can book their tickets for the available time slots.
