Udupi: A sea walkway point will come up at Malpe beach here. It will be the first such sea walkway in the State. For the tourists visiting Malpe, it will be yet another attraction. The point will be located near the tourist jetty, which transports tourists on boats from Malpe to the St. Mary’s Island.

The construction of the walkway will begin on November 1 and completed by December-end. An amount of Rs. 53.5 lakh has been released by the Malpe Development Committee to the Nirmiti Kendra to construct the sea walkway.

The length of the sea walkway will be 500 metres from the jetty and its width will be 8.5 feet. As many as 15 benches will be installed on the walkway for the people to sit and enjoy the sea breeze. The walkway will have steel railings on either sides on laterite stone. To give it an ambience during the evening as many as 30 ornamental lamps will be installed.

“This will be the first sea walkway in the State. It will be a landmark in Malpe. There are such sea walkways in other States including one at Beypore Beach at Kozhikode in Kerala,” said Sudesh Shetty, head of the private agency in charge of development of Malpe beach and St. Mary’s Island, told The Hindu.

Tourists will be able to watch breathtaking views of three islands, St. Mary’s Island, Light-House Island and the Bhadargad Island (also called Dariyagad or Darya Bahadurgad Island). They will be able to watch dolphins at the sea walkway point in addition to the fishing boats going to catch fish during the mornings and evenings. Besides, it would be a good site for fish angling.

“The blue sky just before the sunset will be a scene the tourists will treasure,” Mr. Shetty said.

“We will have to do some stone cutting to level the land and then put the soil to create the sea walkway. Then we will put sand and after that we will put the inter-lock tiles and then the benches and ornamental lamps. It will be ready by December-end,” said Arun Kumar, project director, Nirmiti Kendra.