Mahim to get elevated section of cycling track

Mumbai: The city will soon get its very own cycling track. What’s more, it will be part of the longest cycling track along the Tansa pipeline. 

The 39km-long track will run from suburban Mulund to Antop Hill in Wadala, and will see an elevation at Mahim from where it will run above the pipeline. While the Rs 300 crore project is scheduled to be completed in the next 18 months, on a pilot basis, two stretches will be thrown open to the public by Diwali, confirmed Pallavi Doke of EnviroDesigners, which is providing the design for the track.

On Saturday, Doke, along with Nitin Shukla, the civic official in charge of the project, spoke at length about the track at an open session of the Physics department of D.G. Ruparel College. The meeting was attended by several cycling enthusiasts. Doke said, “The stretch at Mahim will be elevated and will run above the pipeline”. Starting from Mulund, the proposed track will divert into two branches at JVLR to continue towards Kurla, Bandra, Mahim and Antop Hill. 

It was also revealed at the session that BMC will arrange a smart card system through which Mumbaikars can rent a cycle to ride on the track. “The track will be continuously monitored through CCTV cameras. Thus, there will be complete safety,” said Doke.

Meanwhile, cyclists expressed different concerns about the project as the city had witnessed cycling track failures before. Shukla assured that a social media handle would be created to ensure that all suggestions were considered. 

The project received a state nod earlier this month. The BMC was slammed by the high court in 2009 for failing to protect its main pipeline from slum encroachments and ordered that a 10m buffer zone be maintained. Acting on the same, the civic body decided to clear encroachments falling within a 10m radius of the pipeline. The track will be built on this reclaimed 10m land.