Mumbai’s first elevated forest walkway at Malabar Hill nears completion, likely to be opened this month

Built at cost of Rs 25 crore, the city’s first elevated walkway aims to provide visitors with a unique experience of walking through the lush greens of Malabar Hills, while enjoying the unhindered view of the cityscape and the Girgaon Chowpatty. The walkway is 482 metres long and 2.2 metres wide with entry and exit points at Siri Road.

“All works on the main stretch of the trail, including the installation of lights, have been completed. At present, we are nearly completing the work of the electric panel room and the control room at the entrance. We are undertaking final touches on the interiors of these structures, polishing, etc. We are likely to open the walkway by the middle of this month,” an official told The Indian Express.

The BMC stated that the specific date of inauguration is yet to be finalised as the final nod is awaited from the civic top brass. The civic body is also expected to open the emergency exit that will allow visitors to climb up to the Kamala Nehru park at the same time.

Even though the project was initially proposed to be inaugurated by January-end, its opening got delayed owing to the ongoing construction of the control room and the finalisation of crowd control systems.

Authorities said that the visitors will have to pay an entrance fee through an online ticketing system in a bid to recover maintenance costs and monitor crowds.

According to senior officials, the crowd control system is being introduced as the wooden trail can only cater to 400 visitors at a time. With the final approvals on the online ticketing system pending, the BMC is yet to determine the rates of the walkway’s entrance ticket.

Inspired by Singapore’s popular crowd-pulling forest walkways, the project was proposed in 2020 and the tender for the project work was awarded in 2021.

While the trail was expected to be completed within a year, the civil works were delayed owing to the challenges posed by the difficult terrain of the slopes, surveys to protect the flora and fauna, the British-era pipelines running beneath etc.