BMC frames SOP to manage crowd on forest walkway at Malabar Hill

“Once the full capacity is reached, no new visitors will be allowed on the walkway, unless a sizeable number exits. The SOP is being chalked out to make sure that there is no overcrowding on the walkway,” said an official.

Last week, the civic authorities mooted a proposal to charge Rs 25 as entry fee for Indian citizens and Rs 100 for international tourists.

Built at a cost of Rs 25 crore, the Malabar Hill walkway is inspired from Singapore’s elevated forest walkways, which are popular crowd-pullers. (Express Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

Civic authorities maintained that besides having offline ticket counters, there will be options available for online ticketing, through which citizens can book their slots before visiting the walkway.

“There will also be restrictions on carrying food items at the walkway as there are monkeys inside the forest. Visitors will be only allowed to carry water bottles,” said the official.

Built at a cost of Rs 25 crore, the Malabar Hill walkway is inspired from Singapore’s elevated forest walkways, which are popular crowd-pullers. This walkway will provide an unhindered view of the Arabian Sea as well as the island city’s skyline, traversing through the Malabar Hill forest extending from Kamala Nehru Park and extending till the woods of Doongerwadi.

The Malabar Hill walkway’s deck is made of wood and the entire structure is constructed with minimum concrete to ensure natural flow of water through the hill slopes remains uninterrupted and wildlife movement is not affected. (Express Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

The walkway deck is made of wood and the entire structure is constructed with minimum concrete to ensure natural flow of water through the hill slopes remains uninterrupted and wildlife movement is not affected.

The entry and exit points of the trail will be from Siri Road, behind the Kamala Nehru Park from where the walkway will extend up to 705 metres through the forest. The walkway will also have a birdwatching zone and a glass bottom viewing deck.