Environmentalists and history lovers are at loggerheads with the local villagers over the proposed ropeway project between pilgrimage centre Jotiba and Pawangad fort in the Panhala taluka.
Environmentalists and history lovers are at loggerheads with the local villagers over the proposed ropeway project between pilgrimage centre Jotiba and Pawangad fort in the Panhala taluka.
A five-kilometre ropeway plan connecting Jotiba and Pawangad, both situated at an altitude of more than 1,000 metre above sea level in the Sahyadri mountain range, was proposed by the Tatyasaheb Kore Dudh-Sakhar Transport Cooperative Organisation of Warana town last year.
The organisation is a part of the Warana Cooperative Udyog led by former non-conventional energy minister and founder of Jan Surajya Shakti (JSS) party, Vinay Kore.
The district administration, as per the directions of the state environment department, conducted a public hearing on March 16 this year.
The villagers, led by JSS leader Vijay Jadhav and Panhala Municipal Council’s chairman Asif Mokashi, supported the project, while the environmental activists Uday Gaikwad, Shivaji Patil and history researcher Indrajeet Sawant raised objections.
District collector Laxmikant Deshmukh, who presided over the hearing, said the report of the hearing will be forwarded to the state.
The Rs20 crore- project, with 18 ropeway cars and 20 pillars, will run on 35KW electricity. The ropeway car will cover 5 km in 18 minutes. As per the project’s environmental impact assessment, about 3,000 tourists will use the ropeway daily. The organisation has sought 90,000 sq ft land on Pawangad for the project.
Pawangad is situated on a mount connected to the famous Panhala fort with a dense forest cover of four km. A narrow passage connects both the forts.
“The presence of leopard and Bonelli’s eagle, which are at the top of the food chain, indicates the rich biodiversity of the forest. The huge influx of tourists will surely harm the forest. We have agreed to the Western Maharashtra Devasthan Committee taking land at Jotiba, but we object their seeking forest land in Pawangad,” Gaikwad told DNA.
“There is no word in the project regarding the fort’s restoration,” he said.
Mokashi told DNA that the project is essential for income generation at Panhala, Pawangad and Jotiba.
“We are ready to sit across the table with them (environmentalist and history lovers) for solutions,” he said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}