Manakamana Cable car: country's pride

Manakamana Cable car: country's pride
eKantipur.com, 17-Jun-2007

In a mountainous country like Nepal, where a large chunk of people is yet to be linked to road network, Manakamana Cable Car has demonstrated how establishment of a cable transport link can facelift economy and social wellbeing of a community.

Over the period of about eight years, the Cable Car has not only facilitated travelers and increased flow of people to Manakamana - of the most famous the pilgrimage sites, it has also created market, enhanced trade and enabled local people secure good income returns. Most importantly, it has demonstrated cable cars can be an effective transportation alternative in the country, where difficult terrain stands a major impediment to extending road transportations.

All the success stories Manakamana Cable Car boasts today, however, have emerged from a meager start, an ambitious plan and a vision of its promoter. Manakamana Darshan Private Limited (MDPL), the operator of cable car was established in 1998 with an objective to provide clean, safe and convenient means of transportation for the pilgrims and visitors wanting to go to Manakamana. The total investment of the project was Rs 500 million.

What inspired the promoters to venture into such an expensive project? Manakamana was already one of the most visited pilgrimage sites. Owing to distance and difficult trail, many others who wished to visit the place were unable to visit the hilltop holy temple due to a difficult four-hour trek. So, the scope of business was already there, says its officials.

"When people had no alternative than to walk, 50,000 visitors used to visit the place per year," said Manoj Manandhar, sales and marketing manager of Manakamana Darshan.

With the start of the service, promoters knew they could easily raise the number of visitors by at least two-fold and soon they realized they were not wrong. Today, more than 400,000 visitors travel to Manakamana on cable car every year.

The service not only shortened the journey to the religious hot spot, but also generated ample of self-employment and business opportunities for people residing around, giving a complete facelift to the local economy.

Due to influx of huge number of people, a considerable number of restaurants, souvenir shops and resorts have come into operation in the place, which in turn has provided employment to many locals and increased their income level.

According to the company, around 1,200 people visit Manakamana via the cable car every day. "Even if each of these people spends Rs 50, the business transaction in the local economy would reach Rs 600,000 per day, which is a considerable amount," said Manandhar. Besides, the local farm produces, especially oranges, which earlier used to be wasted, now are sold at better prices, generating handsome returns to farmers. And, the locals who were required to walk up or down during emergencies now have access to advanced mode of transportation. This has increased their access to urban areas.

Statistics of the company shows that the cable car ferried a total of 2.935 million people to Manakamana till the end of last fiscal year. Of that, 446,102 traveled in the year 2005/06 alone.

The company has so far generated revenue of Rs 737.4 million, of which Rs 705.4 million was generated from the operation of the cable car, one million from cargo service, Rs 6.3 million from parking facilities, Rs 4.14 million from sales of souvenir and Rs 20.5 million from restaurant business.

"With the restoration of peace, we believe more people will use the cable car," Manandhar said. The cable car company has also made numerous endeavors to establish itself as a responsible to corporate house accountable to the surrounding communities in operates in.

"To meet that end, we are giving huge discounts on cable car fares to locals of Manakamana VDC and Darhechowk VDC," Manandhar said. As per the agreement, people residing in those two VDCs do not have to pay more than Rs 65 to travel on the cable car.

The company also gives grants of Rs 500,000 to Manakamana VDC and Rs 250,000 to Darhechowk VDC every year. Moreover, it has made sure that 90 percent of the total 110 staffs are locals.

"Besides, we have also teamed up with locals and Manakamana Development Committee to promote historical sites such as Bakreshwor Mahadev and Lakhan Thapa Cave, located in the vicinity of Manakamana temple." The company feels that it would be able to give more to the local communities, if locals there take more concrete initiatives to develop Manakamana as a tourist spot.

"Currently, most of the visitors are pilgrims, who visit the place for short period of time, i.e. couple of hours. But, if we can develop it as a tourist spot, more people would come to the place to spend their vacation. If their length of stay increases, their spending would also increase. This will ultimately open new avenues for locals planning to do business and further keep the local economy robust," Manandhar said.