Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Nov 19: The people of Pavoor-Uliya Kudru have, as they have been doing every year, built a temporary bridge across River Netravati this time too. This bridge will help them to cross the river without much problem till May next year.

Kudru is not far from the city. The residents here have been pleading for a regular bridge since long. Their pleas have not yet been considered by successive governments. The politicians appease the residents of Kudru with liberal promises only when an election approaches and forget them thereafter.

The people here had repeatedly approached the MLA here seeking a proper bridge for them. But the proposal has not found favour at the government level. During the rainy season, the people cross the river, duly haunted by the fear of becoming victims of the monsoon fury. The residents have been spending lacs of rupees every year to build this temporary bridge through which they can walk home. They wonder why the government cannot spend on the permanent bridge and help them to use the bridge for all purposes in all the seasons.

With the help of donors, a temporary bridge with iron structure and wooden planks at a cost of Rs 18 lac was built here two years back. This bridge is about 250 metres long and pillars supporting it have been installed below the river base. Wooden planks provide the base on which the people walk on. This time, the bridge was prepared for use by spending about Rs 70,000. A rule that every time a person uses the bridge, he has to pay Rs 15, has been enforced. The amount so collected is proposed to be spent on preparing the bridge again next year.

This isle is located in the middle of River Netravati near Adyar on national highway 75. The isle is located directly on the backside of Sahyadri College. It is an area deprived of basic facilities. Pavoor is located on the other side of the river. As Adyar is nearer from there, they have demanded for a bridge on the Adyar side. The isle has about 50 houses and over 200 people live there. People here have to use boats to cross the bridge and establish contact with the outer world. During the rainy season, the river is in its full glory and crossing the river on a boat becomes a difficult proposition.

A letter had been written to the Prime Minister seeking a bridge here a few years back, and the office of the Prime Minister had written to the state government to do the needful. The PWD department here had sent a proposal to the state government to build a bridge costing five crore rupees, but there is no development thereafter, says the priest of the local church Fr Jerald Lobo.

Zilla panchayat chief executive officer, Dr Selvamani R, has promised to get information about the absence of the bridge and problems of the Kudru people from the panchayat development officer there. He said he will look into what happened to the proposal to build a bridge here.