By Our Reporter
Shillong: Altogether eight bidders have responded to the bidding notification for installing metro cable cars in the city which was conceived with an idea to provide additional means of transport to the people of the city.
Commissioner of Transport, SN Marak, informed The Shillong Times on Thursday that the technical committee of the Transport department has begun the process of examining the bid applications of all the eight firms.
The State Government had, earlier, mooted the idea of installing cable cars in the city to ease the growing traffic congestion in Shillong, after a private firm – Leading Edge Adventurers and Airparks Private Limited – had made a presentation to the government on the benefits of metro cable cars.
“We expect the bidding process to get over soon,” the Transport Commissioner added.
According to Marak, the expression of interest has been floated for the project and the technical committee is examining the feasibility of the project in Shillong.
It may be mentioned that Leading Edge Adventurers and Airparks Private Limited had successfully installed metro cable car systems in Venezuela and other countries.
The private firm had also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Nagaland government in 2010 to start cable cars in Kohima on a 9.8-km stretch at a cost of around Rs 388 crore.
The proposed project in Shillong would be executed on a private-public partnership mode with the co-ordination of the Transport department.
The metro cable car project is not only expected to reduce traffic congestion, but would also help in generating employment opportunities for residents of the city.
