Union minister Vincent Pala inaugurates the skywalk on Friday. A Telegraph picture

Shillong, July 16: Union minister of state for water resources Vincent Pala today inaugurated a skywalk atop the Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Cultures (also known as Don Bosco Museum) at Mawlai Phudmuri here.

Built at a cost of Rs 25lakh, the skywalk will provide visitors a panoramic and birds’ eye view of the city.

“The idea is to help every visitor or tourist to the city to see the beauty of Shillong from a different view,” said Fr Joseph Puthenpurakal, the director of the centre.

“The skywalk on the roof of the museum, constructed by a Delhi-based company, is an additional attraction to the visitors to the museum,” he said.

Pala said the facility will encourage tourist flow to the state and wanted the government and private agencies to take up similar kind of initiatives to promote tourism.

Urban affairs minister and local legislator Founder Cajee said the initiative would boost the image of the state.

The Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Cultures is considered the largest indigenous museum of the Northeast.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi formally inaugurated the centre in March this year.

The museum, which showcases various aspects related to culture and tradition of indigenous groups of the Northeast, is run by Salesian missionaries.

Tourists from several parts of India and abroad visit the museum, which has emerged a significant research and academic centre of the region.

The museum has different galleries, exhibiting various cultural artefacts of the Northeast.

Digitised information about the artefacts displayed in various galleries of the museum is also available.