Inaugural Operation of Cable Car Station Elevates Butwal City’s Charm
Butwal, June 8:
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ officially inaugurated the newly constructed Lumbini Cable Car. Prime Minister Prachanda inaugurated the cable car by unveiling the copper plate at the Bottom station at Golpark Bamghat in Butwal on Thursday.
Lumbini Cable Car, which was built with the investment of IME Group, was officially inaugurated today for commercial operation. The 3-km cable car that starts from Golpark Bamghat in Butwal stopped after reaching Kamakya Devi temple located at Basantapur of Tinau Rural Municipality-3 in Palpa. This is the first ever cable car service operated in Lumbini province.
After the inauguration, Basantapur in Palpa, which can be reached by Lumbini cable car, has now become a religious and tourist destination full of structures including the temple of Kamakhya Devi, Bhagwati Temple, Ganesha Temple, Mount Kailash, Var Peepal, stone taps, ponds, etc.
Earlier, on the 15th of Jeshtha, the idol of Kamakhya Devi was enshrined and worship started. Guhavati and 11 pundits from Nepal gave religious sermons during the week-long worship service. The Kamakhya temple in Basantapur has been built in the style and art of the temple in Guhavati, India. There is a religious belief that a visit to the Kamakhya temple will fulfill one’s wishes and free one from worldly bonds.
A tripartite agreement has been signed with Butwal sub-metropolitan city and Tinau Rural Municipality for the daily operation of the cable car. Lumbini Cable Car Pvt Ltd will allocate 2 percent of the ticket fee for the two municipalities. This is the third cable car to be launched by IME Group. Earlier, the IME Group has already launched Maulakalika cable car at Chandragiri in Kathmandu and recently at Gaidakot in Nawalpur.
Chairman of Lumbini Cable Car Pvt. Ltd. Chandra Prasad Dhakal said that the operation of Lumbini Cable Car has added a new religious and tourist destination to Basantapur. President Dhakal also mentioned that the Lumbini Cable Car was successfully completed and put into operation on time due to the love, harmony and cooperation received from the collective efforts of the local brothers and sisters including the Government of Nepal, Lumbini State Government, and local governments.
President Dhakal also said that he believes that this tourist infrastructure connecting Rupandehi and Palpa districts will help in the economic and social transformation of Rupandehi, Palpa, Navparasi and Kapilvastu districts and the entire Lumbini province.
President Dhakal said that he hoped that this project would prove to be a milestone in fulfilling the wishes of the political leadership and common people of this province to make Rupandehi the economic capital of Lumbini province. President Dhakal also announced a new campaign to build cable car religious tourism circuit.
The total cost of the project including Lumbini cable car and resort is Rs. 5 billion. In the first phase, one and a half billion has been invested in the cable car. Vez and non-veg restaurants have been made separately for tourists at the top station, while hotels, children’s gardens, skywalks, and jeep lines are under construction. The cable car, which has 25 gondolas or boxes of monocaval detachable system, can carry 6,000 passengers daily.
The bottom station is 230 meters above sea level and the top station is 940 meters above sea level. Top station can be reached within a 10-minute journey from Button station. Chairman Dhakal said that the cable car is an easy way to reach Basantpur and get coolness especially in summer season. With the cable car in operation, a five-star hotel and other structures will be built at the top station at a cost of 3.5 billion.
