Soon, cycle, jog or take a walk along Tansa water pipeline

The wait for a dedicated cycle and jogging track along Tansa water pipeline is over as a small segment of it will be opened soon. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed a 1.15 km-long segment. This stretch will be from Mulund boundary to Silver Bell Housing Society and NITIE Gate (Powai) to Vijay Nagar bridge near Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road.

The civic administration has decided to throw the track open for public and sought time from the Mayor for its inauguration.

Earlier, the BMC had set a Diwali deadline to launch a small segment of the 39-km cycle track along the pipeline.

According to civic official, the salient features of this cycle track is that it connects to roads, railway stations and the Metro network.

“People can hire cycles to move from the entry and exit points within the track, and take trains or the Metro as per their requirement. They can also leave the bicycles at exit points from where they connect with roads, trains or the Metro,” said a senior official, attached to the project.

The project will be developed in three stages, and the whole cycle track will be ready by November 30, 2019. 

“The total cost of the project is around Rs 450 crore and it will have several features that will change the way people commute within the city,” added the official.

According to the official, on both sides of the pipeline there will be a Bollywood Walk route, Mumbai Books route, Biodiversity Corridor, Canvas route, Relief walls, Elevated cycle track (dismantable) in Mahim, Cocoon track within the Bhandup Complex, and cycle parking at entry and exit points.

The jogging and cycling track is being touted as the longest in the country. However, the BMC has removed only 50 per cent of the unauthorised structures along the pipeline. According to the water hydraulic department, around 6,000 unauthorised structures that fall in 10 different administrative wards of BMC still need to be removed. The slums along the pipeline have been removed under the supervision of the Bombay High Court.