BKC-Bandra West-Dadar walk (part 1)

Today (Sept 27, 2010) I walked from BKC/Kala Nagar to Bandra station to Dadar. It wasn't a long walk distance wise, approximately 4.5miles (7.24kms) but it took me almost 2.5hours as I took my time walking and taking photos. It was also rather hot and that has an effect on how fast one keeps going. Fellow tweeter @abhishinde asked me what the story was behind this walk, a question you may be asking as well, so here goes. I believe that a lot can be learned about a city by walking through it. In Bombay, for the most part, for good or worse, travel for me is mainly by car. One whizzes by neighborhoods and sees life in a blur. Only when there is a traffic does one get a chance to see city life more up close, which when walking, is an experience further amplified. I've been walking around my neighborhood and know it well now so thought I'd extend the loop and do this long walk. By starting at BKC, I also got a chance to walk the length of the first Mumbai skywalk.

Access to the skywalks is via stairs and depending on location, there are about 35-40 steps. I didn't see any handicap accessibility provided. This covered skywalk connects BKC to Bandra station, 1.3kms away. I visited during rush hour so there were plenty of people using this skywalk. At BKC, the skywalk goes over almost 10-12 lanes; with cars, trucks etc speeding, crossing streets is not an easy at all so I'm guessing that the skywalks are much appreciated.

Construction of the skywalks is straightforward and inexpensive looking. One could feel the vibrations as the heavy traffic below sped by under. The overall structural steel of the skywalk was painted bright yellow. With the green and white heavy-grade plastic roofing, it was a bright optimistic space. Eaves along the edges were made from aluminum composite panels.

The provision of seating every few 100 yards was a surprising and rather considerate detail.

However, most of the stairways had unequal tread heights & depths, which in a worst case scenarios could be rather dangerous.

Walking high above the traffic and city offers some great views. Near BKC was a nice garden (seemingly unused though) with a statue of Nehru. Further west were some old buildings, a secret garden, and miscellaneous junk.

This skywalk also offers views of the Mithi River (aka Mahim River) that has now been cleaned up a lot. Though there is still trash thrown into the river and from the north, a big nala (open sewer) flows into the river. Beyond the river is, I believe, the Maharashtra/Mahim Nature Park that I hope to visit soon.

In the distance, through the smog, a mosque with its minarets tall...

Crossing the Western Express Highway, I was surprised to see homes built next to and under the walkway.

Folks living in these homes also seemed to be farming all sorts of greens in the neighboring fields.

Next to the fields, a lone boy played with a kite. Idyllic and sad at the same time.

Other scenes to note: at the side of the highway, cops or security guards busy with some business...

Structural members for hoardings (aka billboards) being weighed down at the base with stones...

Getting closer to Bandra station, more typical shanty construction is everywhere. Corrugated sheet metal, reused tarpaulin from billboard ads are the construction material of choice. There is a lot of waste, trash everywhere, some of it burning, some smelling rather foul. It's a difficult scenario to bear witness to. Amidst all the poverty though, there is always life... children happy and playing, women performing daily duties of washing clothes/dishes, people going about their work...

TV dish antennas adorn the roofs allowing folks to connect with the world...