 |
| Chikhloli Dam |
If you are someone staying in the vicinity of Badlapur, a city in the Thane district of Maharashtra, then Chikhloli dam could be your next monsoon destination. It is a serene lake with a small waterfall and plenty of landscape to soothe your eyes and give you peace.
Since it has a restricted entry, you will not find much
crowd here, except during the Ganesh festival, when they immerse the idol of
Ganesha. It is a sought-after spot for the
locals and some lazy guys to hangout for booze.
But, if you are as lucky as we were, don’t be surprised if you and your
gang are the lone picnickers for the day.
Place: Chikhloli Dam
Where: Badlapur
How to reach: The dam
is just 4-5 kms from Badlapur station.
You can easily get an auto rickshaw to take you as close to the dam as
they choose to; and after a short climb on the hill, you reach the dam. The dam is also accessible by road as it is
close to the Badlapur highway.
Food: It is advisable
to carry your food in case you want to stay longer as there are no shops near
the dam, and the lone makeshift kiosk that we did find there was closed. In case you chose to consume food at the
place, kindly carry back the leftovers, plates, cups, etc. for appropriate
disposal. The place is clean for the
most part and let’s do our part by maintaining the cleanliness.
Best time to visit:
Monsoon. Either hit it in the
morning after breakfast or go out for a lazy evening with a flask full of
masala chai and crunchies.
My friendship with Amit has been a recent one and I already
have loads to thank him for the wonderful places he visits and shares the
photographs, and I just can’t seem to resist visiting them myself. He stays at Badlapur, and Chikhloli for him
is a stone’s throw away distance from his place. So you can very well understand his frequent
visits to the dam. He is an excellent
guide and photographer. Most of the
pictures I get to share are shot by him.
With directions from Amit for the dam, I convinced my family
for an outing one day. We had initially
planned to take the road, but due to some circumstances, we ended up taking the
train from Dombivli to Badlapur. From there,
we took an auto rickshaw on a per seat basis.
The guy was kind enough to arrange another one as we were eight of
us. He even spoke to the dam authorities
who let us take the rick farther into the premises. If you have your own vehicle, you can take it
all the way to the hill.
The lake is so peaceful with calm waters and flows into a
stream to one end. Swimming is permitted
at your own risk. Be prepared for little fish bites as there are plenty of
them; do they say fish spa? If you do not want to enter the water, it’s fine.
You can feed the fishes from the banks.
You can take a walk across the dam and reach the mountains on the other
side. You can walk the hills and take a tour of the greenery and flowers. There are waterfalls and couple of temples,
one on a hill and one Shiva temple at the base of the hill. You can take a dip in the streams when the
water is more. After some lovely photo
session, we traced our steps back. We
had informed the driver to pick us back, and he did so promptly.
The dam authorities were kind enough to let us take a tour
of the water filtration process. No
footwear allowed and no photography.
We plan to go there again early next monsoon to see when the
water level is more. Chikhloli is a
pleasant recreation spot, with beauty that compels you to go there again and
again.
Pictures speak louder than words, so sharing some clicks by Amit.
 |
| The lake nestled in green heaven |
 |
| If you just want to drench yourself, but not swim. |
 |
| The waterfall, seen only when the water level is more |
 |
| Feel like swimming? |
 |
| The Balsam blossom |
