The state is poised to get its second ropeway after a wait of almost 50 years. 

Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi would lay the foundation stone for the ropeway at Mandar hill in Banka district, around 250km southeast of Patna, on January 22. 

The Japan government had gifted the state’s first operational ropeway at Rajgir almost half a century ago. 
Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) officials claimed that following the foundation stone laying ceremony, tenders would be floated to select firm/s for the installation of the ropeway. Sources claimed that the project was expected to take two years for completion from the date of start. 

Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), an undertaking of the Indian Railways, carried out the feasibility study, which has proposed a 700m cabin-type ropeway. 

“The ropeway to be installed at Mandar hill would be one of the finest ropeways. The chief minister is supposed to lay its foundation stone on January 22,” said BSTDC managing director Mohammad Sohail. 

The Telegraph had carried a report on the progress of the ropeway project in its edition dated November 10, 2014. Since Mandar hill is a notified forest area, a clearance for the installation of the ropeway has been obtained from the environment and forests department. “Based on the need for getting forest clearance, we transferred around 2.46 acres at Chilkara village near Mandar hills in December itself,” said a senior officer in Banka district administration. 

Sources claimed that there would be three stations along the 700m stretch of the proposed ropeway — lower station, where people would get inside the cabin, intermediate station, where the cabin would stop for a view of the hill and upper station where people would alight. 

The development assumes significance as Mandar hill has great potential to be developed into a tourist hot spot in the state. According to the Skanda Purana, it was used in the samudra manthan (churning of the sea) episode in which the devtas (gods) and rakshashas (demons) took part. Apart from this, a unique black-stone image of Vishnu in his man-lion incarnation (Narsimha avatar) has been found at the hill. An inscription of Gupta king Adityasen Gupta has also been found at the hill.