Cable cars: CDA revives plan to install chairlift in Margallas

The decade-old project had been shelved due to environmental concerns.

ISLAMABAD:

City managers on Friday took a step towards reviving a decade-old plan to install a chairlift in the Margalla Hills when they decided to engage an international consultant to evaluate the project.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will solicit expressions of interest from international consultancies to carry out technical and financial studies for the proposed chairlift.

The CDA has identified two sites for the installation of chairlifts, one from Marghazar Zoo — at the foothills of the Margallas to Makhiala Peak near Pir Sohawa village, with a brief stopover at Daman-e-Koh — while the second one would start from Lakeview Park.

The total length of the chairlift would be approximately 2.5 kilometres if the starting point is the zoo, said a concerned official.

He said the final decision about the starting and culmination points would be decided after the project’s technical study is completed. “According to a rough estimate, the project will cost Rs1.5 billion,” the official added.

The plan for installing a chairlift in the capital was first considered in 2002, when the cost of the project was worked out at Rs500 million.

“At the time, the CDA board had not only approved the project, but also set aside Rs500,000 as consultancy fee for assessing the cost and evaluating the project,” said a senior CDA official.

He said under the original PC-I prepared in 2003, there were to be 60 cable cars and the project was supposed to be completed within a year. Environmental considerations were a major factor in delaying the project.

“At that time, Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) refused to issue a no-objection certificate to the CDA after terming the project an ‘environmental hazard’ as the authority would have to fell a number of trees along the designated route of the chairlift,” said an official.

Pak-EPA had also expressed concern over the increase in commercial activities in the protected hills once the project was executed.

In July, talking to The Express Tribune the CDA chairman had said the authority would address environmental concerns, referring to established public areas along the Margalla Hills where the base camp and final destination points could be set up.

“The CDA will not carve out new points by removing vegetation or indigenous trees, as there are established public areas along the Margalla Hills where the base camp and final destination points can be set up,” CDA Chairman, Nadeem Hassan Asif had said.

We have forwarded the advertisement with terms and conditions for consultancies for carrying out the project’s feasibility study,” CDA Spokesperson Naeem Rauf said, adding the advertisement would be published in national and international print media next week.

A senior official of CDA’s Environment Wing said the advertisements aimed to attract international consultancy firms as local firms lack expertise.

“According to the Pakistan Engineering Council’s guidelines, if an international consultancy expresses interest in the project, it will enter into a joint venture with a local firm,” the official added. “A giant Ferris wheel would also be installed at Lakeview Park.”

CDA Spokesperson Naeem Rauf said the project was initiated to entertain visitors who cannot afford to hire costly private transport to visit the National Park area, adding the monetary returns for the CDA from this project are a secondary consideration.

After assuming charge Asif had asked that work on a decade-old plan to set up a chairlift in the Margalla National Park be reinitiated.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2013.