Mumbai: Malabar Hill to get treetop walkway by October

MUMBAI: Four months after

BMC

’s standing committee cleared a Rs 22-crore proposal for construction of a treetop walkway at

Malabar Hill

that will offer unhindered views of the

Arabian Sea

and a walk over the green cover of the hills, work on the project is yet to start.

While the project was supposed to be completed in eight months, it is stuck with technical approvals and design changes.

In December 2021, the standing committee cleared the plan for the construction of the elevated tree walk which is similar to Singapore’s treetop walks. The city has several skywalks, but there are no elevated treetop walks for pedestrians in the city. This one at Malabar Hill will be the first of its kind in the city.

Officials said that the width of the walkway is 2.4 meter at all locations except two viewpoints where it is 5.4 meters and a public toilet is part of the project too.

Additional municipal commissioner P Velrasu said that a detailed study took time. “The slope geography was studied and accordingly pile diameter and depth was increased. The fire brigade was having some opinion about the glass deck. But since then the glass area has been accordingly modified taking into consideration its concerns. The glass deck area has been reduced,” Velrasu said.

Velrasu said the project will be completed by October. “A prototype is prepared. Work will start soon,” Velrasu said.

BJP corporator Vinod Mishra said BMC had delayed the project due to lack of proper planning. “The project was supposed to be ready in eight months but after four months they have not even performed the ground-breaking ceremony. This shows that there was lack of planning and sheer hurry in awarding the contracts. There has also been a cost escalation from Rs 12 crore to Rs 22 crore since it was planned,” Mishra said.

Singapore’s treetop walks are popular among tourists. The green environs of the MacRitchie Reservoir treetop take visitors 25m above the ground on a free-standing suspension bridge. This walk takes visitors on a nature walk through a lush canopy which is home to a variety of birds, colugos and long-tailed macaques (monkeys). Home to 80 species of birds and 18 rare types of trees, the treetop walk provides panoramic views.


Stay updated with breaking news, weather updates, bank holidays and upcoming public holidays in march.