Call of the wild

Jamshedpur, March 4: Walking on a rope bridge, 40ft above the ground in a forest — sounds adventurous enough? Soon you could be doing that at the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary.

Known for its elephants, the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is now planning a canopy walk, popular in China and Malaysia, to attract more tourists.

Siddharth Tripathy, the divisional forest officer at Dalma, has sent a proposal to the Union forest ministry for introducing this new facility. A single rope bridge, covering a distance of 300m, would be introduced first. Depending on the response, authorities may plan a double canopy walk.

The facility would be set at about 40ft from the ground and is expected to be ready in three months. “Plastic, cotton ropes, wood and steel poles would be used to link the bridge, which would resemble a bridge, along the trees,” the senior forest official said. Platforms would also be constructed on either side of the bridge — all at a cost of Rs 2 lakh.

About five persons would be able to walk through the bridge at a time. The idea is to bring tourists close to nature. Tripathy said the facility would come up close to the Pinderbera forest guesthouse atop the Dalma hills.

“The visitors, who come to stay at the forest guesthouse, can enjoy the thrill of canopy walking,” said the DFO. The department is also identifying more places where the facility could be planned But what they would have to do on regular basis is to ensure maintenance of the bridge.

Sources said forest officials are very excited about the plan to bring in a canopy walk as early as possible and are in touch with various experts and agencies for guidance and consultation.

That’s not all. The DFO disclosed that the forest department is also planning a 30m-high watchtower atop of the Dalma hill.

“The proposed watchtower, when set up, would provide viewers with a panoramic view of the Dalma. They can also spot elephants and other animals, in the forest from here. We will also make binocular stands on the watchtower,” he added.