Photo Credit; Getty Images
A Brazilian judge has halted a project to build a zipline connecting Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain to a nearby hill, Morro da Urca. The development, which began four years ago, aimed to allow tourists to travel 755 meters at speeds of up to 100km/h. However, the court blocked the project following sustained protests from locals and environmentalists who claimed the construction was causing permanent damage to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Gricel Osorio Hor-Meyll, one of the activists who had led the campaign against the zipline, told AFP news agency that the ruling was "a huge victory".
Those opposed to the attraction argued that in order to build the platforms needed to access the zipline, the rock on top of Sugarloaf Mountain would have to be excavated.
The company which manages the site said that excavation would be kept to a minimum by using areas with existing construction.
The project had the approval of both Rio City Council and the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN).
As part of Tuesday's ruling, the judge ordered that IPHAN and the project's developer pay 30m reals ($5.77m, £4.35m) in damages, stressing the "inestimable value of Sugarloaf Mountain, not only for Brazilians but for people worldwide".
The project has been at the centre of a legal battle for years and construction had been halted on a number of occasions as the company argued its case in court.
In January, construction work restarted after the high court had ruled that stopping would cause more damage than finishing the project at this late stage.
It added that the project was 95% completed. That decision has now been overturned by Tuesday's ruling.
The developer is expected to appeal against the decision.
