SCALING NEW HEIGHTS

Aditya Chamaria

Managing Director, Damodar Ropeways and Infra (DRIL)

Indian ropeway safety codes are at par with global standards.

Since the early 1960s, when Britishers installed ropeways in Eastern Coalfield and Bharat Cooking Coal to carry sand for filing underground mines, the Indian ropeway industry has come a long way.  In the 1970s, Usha Breco, and Damodar Ropeways (DRIL), entered the picture and began designing, producing, installing, and commissioning various material ropeways for transporting coal, sand, and limestone (raw materials) for the cement industry.

The advent of passenger ropeways in the marked a watershed moment in India's infrastructure and construction industry. Due to the limited and difficult access, rugged terrains were attractive places for ropeway installations. However, the firms participating in the ropeway project's installation performed highly difficult and precise work that included civil, mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering ropeways that were custom-made for each project. As a result, there was a greater demand for precision and proper ropeway installation, necessitating the hiring of professional ropeway specialists. Also, the industry provided many jobs for both organised and unorganised people, contributing significantly to India's infrastructural development.

Ropeways began to fill a void in Indian forms of transportation and movement as the technology for creating and erecting these marvels of engineering improved. Additionally, the model of ropeway construction players was built on a zero-defect model; therefore, the project's foundation was not placed until and unless a team of professional ropeway technicians was involved.

Quality control is in the DNA among experienced Indian ropeway players. Since its establishment in 1974, DRIL has had no accidents thanks to a responsible maintenance and operation crew present at all sites, with quality control taking place at regular intervals. Totally Indian passenger ropeways designed on the basis of Indian safety standards (Indian Standard Codes issued by BIS) were made as far back as the late 1970s. Today 90 per cent of the ropeways operating in India were made on the basis of the BIS codes and some are running for more than 40 years without any serious mishaps.

To keep up with the likely demand of different types of ropeways and the advent of new technology the BIS has been updating the Indian Standard Codes regularly and currently there are about 17 different BIS standards specifically for ropeways. The last round of up-gradations was done in 2019-20. This is a continuous process and, as can be seen all over the world, the safety documents are regularly studied and modified to keep up with the times.

The immense support for the Indian ropeway came in 2018 when BIS has urged NITI Aayog to adopt Indian standards that could give a fillip to 'Make in India' initiative; this was in response to a NITI Aayog proposal for imposition of European standards for the development of ropeways in India. At that time, BIS said in a letter to NITI Aayog that "All the existing Indian standards are updated as per the latest technology in the field. It is requested that in order to promote the 'Make in India' campaign of the Government of India and also to safeguard the interest of Indian manufacturing industries, it is proposed that the reference of Indian standards on ropeways shall be referred to in the Model Concession Agreement instead of CEN standards.”

In October 2020 the NITI Aayog had conducted an in-depth analysis of the Indian codes with the CEN (European) codes and came to a conclusion that there was no safety gap between the Indian and CEN codes. A directive to this end was issued by the NITI Aayog that all efforts were to be made to implement the “Make in India” policy for ropeways also as it was clear that the standards applicable here were no less safe than the European standards.

Ropeways made in India as per Indian standards are very cost effective also as according to a preliminary calculation, using imported ropeways having CEN standard will increase the total ropeway cost anywhere between 100 - 300%.  With the possibilities of many ropeways being set-up in India the European ropeway companies suddenly find that they can make a lot of money here, however, they cannot compete with Indian ropeway companies on the basis of prices.  Therefore they are pushing for imported CEN Standard Ropeways.

The government should avoid falling into the trap of European companies. Moreover, exorbitant cost charged by European companies will make the ropeway ride tickets un-affordable for the average middle class Indians. This important aspect has to be kept in mind before deciding on imported/Indian ropeways.

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