Karwar: India’s first canopy walk which was inaugurated at Kuveshi forest in Castle Rock division of the Western Ghats in Joida taluk on Sunday is the brainchild of two youths from Mysuru Abdul Anees and Bharat P G, who hail from Mysuru, have realized the dream of the people of this region by setting up of the 240 metre-long canopy walk on top of the high rising trees just 20km away from the Goa border.Speaking to TOI at Kuveshi, Anees and Bharat said though they were engineers by profession their passion is adventurism.“We visited this forest in Dandeli region and also the Kali Tiger Reserve (KTR) several times. A bird festival held at Kulagi near Dandeli in 2016 helped us realize our dream to set up a canopy walk in the Western Ghats,” they said.“During the bird festival, minister R V Deshpande and then principal conservator of forest Vinay Luthra proposed the canopy walk in Keveshi forest as it has tall and strong trees. Then Deshpande had suggested that the 200-km-long Great Canara Trail, which is the dream project of the tourism department of Karnataka, should end with the walk on the canopies in the Kuveshi. We were in the meeting and then approached the officials concerned with the proposal. The response was encouraging,” Anees said. Till now only few countries like Indonesia, Malaysia have canopy walks, he added.“We have visited different countries where canopy walk is popular and roped in some experts from London to start the Rs 82 lakh project. We selected strong teak trees and built the canopy with the help of strong ropes at a height of 30 metres. There are five platforms on which 10 people can stand at a time,” they said.“Though the platform is strong, as a precautionary measure we have decided to allow only two people at a time on each of such suspension,” said Bharat.“In foreign countries, the canopy walk is being used by the researchers to study trees, different birds and insects without disturbing them. In India it is now being used to develop tourism. We took two and half months to construct the canopy. Though the design is from other countries we developed it and now it has become unique,” said Anees.“The canopy walk is beyond our expectations. We really thank Anees and Bharat for this marvelous canopy walk,” said Phalakshyya, Conservator of Forest. Anees and Bharat were honoured by R V Deshpande, Minister for medium and heavy industries at Kuveshi on Sunday during the inauguration of the Canopy walk.

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