Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady (SP)
Beltangady, Jul 18: A village in this taluk always turned into a virtual island during monsoon months. The only mud road here that is used by people to have contact with outside worlds gets inundated during rainy season. The demand of the residents of this village seeking a bridge have not been met by successive people's representatives. But a youth throbbed to the need of the villagers here, and made up his mind to see that the people here get an easy access to other villages and towns. For the sake of the people of this village, he conceived on his own plan and has built a hanging bridge for them.
The village under reference happens to be a hamlet called Polipu. Polipu, located in the midst of thick forests, falls under Shishila gram panchayat limits. People here are heavily dependent on Shishila downtown for their day-to-day needs. For reaching there, they need to cross Polipu rivulet, which does not pose any problem during summer as water level in the rivulet recedes then. But with the onset of monsoon, their ordeal begins. Because the area gets very heavy rains, the people are unable to cross the rivulet which flows with full force during the rains, and hence find it very hard to meet their daily needs like food, work, education, medicines etc met.
The people of Polipu have handed over a large number of memorandums so far to people's representatives, seeking a proper bridge for them, but none of them have been heeded so far. Now, a youth has throbbed to their difficulties. The man, identified as Balakrishna from Shishila, has solved their monsoon blues. Balakrishna, who was determined to provide a lasting solution to the problems faced by the people of Polipu, thought of building a hanging bridge. With the support of friends, he came forward to implement his plan, and has now succeeded in realizing his dream.
Balakrishna has taken care to take into account convenience, suitability and safety aspects when building a hanging bridge here. People of Polipu will be thankful to him for his generous gesture. In the past, the people used to somehow build temporary foot-bridge across this rivulet during monsoons by using trunks of areca nut trees. However, when the intensity of rain increased, the water level in the rivulet used to rise, and the foot-bridge often got washed away. Now, the hanging bridge built by Balakrishna has saved the people of lot of problems. In the past, elders in the family had to accompany their children to schools because of safety concerns, but now the children can go to schools on their own as families are sure that they would reach their destinations safely.
The way Balakrishna has served the village has put even people's representatives from here to shame. His selfless attitude and his voluntary response to the needs of villagers are worth recognizing by the society.