Sikkim skywalk project in limbo

Updated on Sunday, December 05, 2010, 09:51

New Delhi: The fate of the giant Skywalk proposed at Baleydunga peak in the south of Sikkim hangs in balance with the Environment Ministry refusing to divert a patch of forest land from a sanctuary for the project.

The ambitious project costing Rs 500 crore involves construction of three finger-shaped skywalks, or glass bridges protruding from the Baleydunga cliff at an elevation of 10,102 feet and connected through a tunnel.


The project proponent, Sikkim Tourism, had approached Environment Ministry's steering committee of the National Board of Wildlife for diversion of six hectares of forest land from Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary for survey and investigation for construction of the project.

The iconic structure is expected to propel Sikkim into the global tourism map besides becoming a landmark of its own in the Himalayan state.

Besides Skywalk, the Tourism Department has also proposed creation of allied supporting infrastructure like cable car, tourist complex, accommodation centre, nature and spiritual complex and other tourism amenities in the cliff, Yangang and Dhapar areas.


The survey was meant to find out whether the proposed site can support the creation of such structure as at present there is only one similar skywalk in the world -- at the Grand Canyon in Arizona near the Colorado river in the US.

However, in a recent meeting the Committee did not find "merit in the proposal from the point of view of wildlife conservation in the sanctuary which is a notified protected area.

"It was also opined that the proposal was not site-specific. In view of these suggestions, the Committee decided to reject the proposal," sources said.

source:PTI