Brief Summary of the Proposed Ropeway Project at Matheran is the hill station and a municipal council in the in the Indian state of . It is a hill station in Tehsil and is also the smallest hill station in . It is located on the range at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above sea level. It is located around 90 km from , and 120 km from . Matheran's proximity to many metropolitan cities makes it a popular weekend getaway for urban residents. Matheran, which means "forest on the forehead" (of the mountains) is an eco- sensitive region, declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, . It is Asia's only automobile-free hill station. Transportation facilities for tourist, local people and other travelling to Matheran from the plains are poor. Railway was the only transport facility for reaching Matheran prior to 1974. However consequent strike by railway employees in 1974 distrupting the transportation of Matheran, temporary road from Neral to Matheran was constructed by local people. The local people later on tried their best to move the government to get the road widened and safe by constructing railing and by removing unsafe road turning in the hills. The request was also made to state government Minibus on this route, but the government did not take any action in this matter. Thus there is no scientifically planned and safely constructed road to Matheran. Road transport is available from Neral upto Dasturi Plateau and from this plateau one has to walk 2-3km toward matheran. Thus railway remains the major transport mode to reach Matheran from Neral or Karjat which are nearest towns but the Central Railway has stopped operating toy train to Matheran since May-2016 due to frequent derailment and resumption of train services to Matheran in near future looks very difficult thereby leaving road travel as the only option left for tourists and local residents of Matheran. There are approx. 8 Lacs tourists visiting Matheran annually apart from local residents. Currently, tourists travelling to Matheran are having following mode of transport (a) Road Travel or (b) toy train.

However, the existing modes of transportation remains is road travel which is inadequate and inconvenient. Presently there is movement of more than 500 vehicles (cars) every day during peak season and all such vehicles are parked at Dasturi Naka which is in forest area and near the plateau top at an elevation of approx. 800 m above msl. There is no proper arrangement for parking of vehicles at Dasturi Naka which leads to traffic congestions very frequently in Matheran Hills during peak seasons. Thus plying of vehicles upto Dasturi point, however leads to increased pollution in Matheran plateau. In lieu of the above, Matheran Ropeway Private limited have come up and proposed a passenger ropeway to increase tourism in the area and provide a clean transportation for tourists to the hills station.

The proposed Matheran Passenger Ropeway shall be developed at Village-Bhutivali, Tehsil: Karjat, District-Raigad, Maharashtra by M/s Matheran Ropeway Private Limited (MRPL) which is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) incorporated under Companies Act for implementation and operation of Matheran Passenger Ropeway at at Village-Bhutivali, Tehsil: Karjat, District-Raigad, Maharashtra in order to promote tourism & modal shift to transit and reduction in traffic congestion in the region. The project has already got the Environmental clearance vide letter no 18-2/2016.IA-III dated 21.05.2008 which subject to the final orders in application No 901 pending before the Supreme court. Accordingly, company pursued the matter with Hon’ble supreme court from the year 2008 which passed the order on 21.10.2011 directing the state government to pass an appropriate order under the law. The PWD thereafter issued a final notification dated 26.12.2012 permitting the company to start ropeway project within six months’ subject to approval from forest department as stipulated in clause 29 of said Notification. The company thereafter obtained fresh “in-principal” approval from the forest department (i.e Stage-I clearance) for diversion of reserve forest (2.5720 ha) land dated 19.03.2013. We have now been given to understand that the validity of Environmental clearance letter dated 21.05.2008 has expired and application was not made for extension of the Project. Hence we are applying for the fresh Environmental clearance for Terms of Reference and request you to exempt from Public Hearing and allow for one-month baseline data collection as this is a project beneficial for environment and the local people of the area. The project has the potential to improve tourism in the area and remove the smoke causing vehicles in the area.

The proposed system to be installed will have Base Station at Butivali Village (near Railway Station 50 AMSL), Intermediate Station at Garbat Plateau (545 AMSL) and Top station will be at Madhavji Point (800 AMSL) total horizontal distance covered (Total:4489.39m (Stage I: 2744.29m+Stage II: 1744m). The project being an Aerial Ropeway falls under the item 7 (g) of the EIA notification, 2006 and is a designated Project as per Schedule and falls under category A, as the project will be developed in the Matheran Notified Eco-Sensitive Zone, 2003.

Matheran Ropeway Private Limited is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under Companies Act for implementation and operation of Shimla Passenger Ropeway at Village-Bhutivali, Tehsil: Karjat, District-Raigad, Maharashtra.