By Amar Raj Naharki
Tanahun, Feb. 26: Work to connect the towers of Bandipur Cable Car in Tanahun district is moving in full swing.
Ram Chandra Sharma, chairman of Bandipur Cable Car and Tourism Limited, the main construction company, said connection work of four of the 12 towers of the Cable Car to be built from Thuldhunga of Bandipur Rural Municipality-4 to Bandipur has been completed.

He informed that work was underway to erect all the towers by May and bring it into operation by Dashain.
Sharma said that the construction work was delayed due to a lack of workers and unavailability of goods on time because of COVID-19, but now 120 workers were working continuously to complete the work within the deadline.

Under the project, construction of a five-star hotel at the upper station and construction of infrastructure at the lower station are moving in full swing.
According to Sharma, works on infrastructure including the cable car have begun as it is necessary to attract the tourists to Bandipur. The company has also upgraded hotels and the cable car.
Kiran Pokharel, chief executive officer of the company, said that the investment had also increased to Rs 2.60 billion due to the increase in the capacity of cable cars and hotels. The capacity of the cable cars has increased from 300 persons per day to 500. He said that the number of rooms in the hotel had been increased from 66 to 87.

Sharma informed that 95 per cent construction work of the five-star hotel had completed. The foundation stone was laid in the first week of July 2018 and a target was set to bring the cable car into operation on February 13, 2021. However, the work was delayed due to the COVID-19-related restrictions, Sharma said.

From next September, all the work of the station and cable car will be completed and it will be brought into operation commercially, he added. Siddha Gufa in Bimalnagar, which is claimed to be the largest in Asia, can also be observed from the Cable Car. Starting from Thuldhungaswara, the cable car will reach the height of Bandipur passing through Siddha Gufa.

RKD Real Estate and Construction Private Limited, Panchase Cable Car and Tours Private Limited, Tourism Investment Fund Limited, Bandipur Rural Municipality and locals have invested in the cable car project, said operator Tara Nath Upadhyaya.
According to the company, the cable car will directly enter the four-star hotel, the huge 16-storey Queen Tower.

The project is being planned to make Bandipur the main tourist destination as well as to make the cable car the only means of transport to visit the Khadga Devi temple for religious tourism.
Additional infrastructure is being prepared in collaboration with local businessmen and Bandipur Rural Municipality. The plan is to make the tourists stay in Bandipur for at least two nights.