If it stops raining shells, flowers can bloom. This has been proved by the year-long ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

One of the beneficiaries was the sky car project in Gulmarg, which covers a distance of 5km and reaches an altitude of 13,500 feet, the highest in the world.

A French firm, PomaGlaski, had abandoned the ambitious project because of the violence in the Kashmir valley and cross-border shelling. "The project is within direct shelling range of Pakistan artillery positioned across the Line of Control beyond the Afarwat Hills, which is the final destination of the sky car," said a project official.

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However, thanks to the recent confidence building measures between the two countries and international nudging towards a permanent resolution of the Kashmir dispute, French engineers entrusted with the project returned to Gulmarg and resumed work.

"We shall be completing the cable work up to Afarwat by December 24. The chief minister will inaugurate the project on Christmas," said Farooq Ahmad Shah, director of the project. Shah, who has been supervising the project, spends his days at the site these days braving sub-zero temperatures.

Nature, it seems, is lending a helping hand. Gulmarg had heavy snowfall recently. Once the sky car begins operations, tourists will have access to the world's highest and longest ski slopes.

"If peace persists along the LoC, the sky car could be a major attraction for thousands of tourists and adventurers who throng Gulmarg for skiing, golf or a sojourn," says Shah.

A ride in the cable car is an experience to cherish. It winds its way through dense pine forests beset with snow in winters and a carpet of scented medicinal flowers in summers. The snow slopes of Gulmarg are a skier's paradise. Also, the facilities available are comparable to some of the best in the world (like in the French Alps).