Palani, July 30, 2013: Devotees, especially children and the elderly, will not have any difficulty in reaching the hill temple to have a darshan of Lord Sri Dhandayuthapaniswamy here as the rope car, suspended from service since June 6, will become operational by mid-August.

It is the most popular means of transportation for devotees to reach the sanctum.

The rope car had developed a snag and stopped midway, leaving 28 pilgrims dangling some 200 metres above the ground between the ground station and the Sri Dhandayuthapaniswamy hill temple on June 5.

A pair of winches was pressed into operation to ferry pilgrims following the breakdown of the rope car. It takes eight minutes to reach the top. But pilgrims faulted at the arrangement.

Said S. Kesavan from Palghat: “We have been waiting for hours t find a place in the winch. Our elderly parents and children had a tough time. The absence of the rope car has caused inconvenience to pilgrims. Those who cannot climb the steps, have to depend on the winch service.”

After two major mishaps involving the rope car, temple authorities are taking no chances. The winches move slowly and are monitored by CCTVs.

Commissioned at a cost of Rs.4 crore, the rope car is faster than the winch. Pilgrims can’t wait for it to be operational again.

Launched in 2004 by the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the Mono Cable Fixed Grip Reversible Jig-Back Ropeway System, was introduced in the Palani temple with 20 cabins with a carrying capacity of 80 passengers per trip and a travel time of 2.8 minutes to cover a distance of 320 metres.

Within a few months, it became a major income generator for the temple. In August 2007, the rope car was suspended when two cabins slipped from the cable killing four pilgrims.

The victims included two officials of the state cooperative milk society Aavin and their families.

After the mishap, technical changes were effected in the system. The number of cabins were reduced to eight from 20 and the speed reduced.

Originally, each cabin had a detachable system to enable it to detach from the rope and attach again for movement on the ground and uphill.

In the re-designed system, four cabins were fitted to the rope permanently in clusters using the fixed grip system. One set of four cabins would start from the ground station and another set of four cabins would start simultaneously from the hill station. On September 2, 2008, the rope car service resumed. Only to suffer a breakdown yet again.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 30, 2013.