Bantwal: For Hanchinakatte Villagers, Concrete Bridge has remained a Mirage

Report and Pics by Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (RD)

Bantwal, Aug 14: This is not a recent issue.  It is a classic example of an unfulfilled dream of the people for a linking bridge at Hanchinakatte, near here. This also is an example for the apathy of the peoples’ representatives and department officers, about taking care of the infrastructural needs of the remote villages.

“We need a linking bridge in our remote village, since we undergo tremendous hardships in accessing the main land…”, has been the plea of the residents of Mudanadugod, Navoor and Kavalapadoor villages, here, since the past 44 years.  The dream of a linking bridge has not realized, owing to the disinterestedness of the elected representatives and officers. The initial feeling of hope, has since transformed into a feeling of disgust among the villagers. 

The villagers have, many a time, forwarded their pleas for a linking bridge in their neighbourhood, to the local gram panchayat members, ministers, MP and also the Chief Minister.  However, their petitions have been assigned to the files, without being acted upon.

The villagers are undergoing hardships, since there is no dependable linking bridge to cross  a 60-feet rivulet.  Despite repeated pleas having been made to the state administration seeking a permanent bridge,  under the leadership of their prominent local leader Padmanabha Shenoy, their efforts have gone down the drain.  

The locals have erected a temporary bridge by laying 33 areca trees on either side, supported by a pillar at the centre.  It is just a temporary arrangement to cross the rivulet. 

If a concrete bridge is laid across the rivulet here, it would link all the neighbouring villages, such as Hanchinakatte, Vogga, Nuji, Badagundi, Menadu, Kailar, Decchar, Kayaradka, Kujilabettu, Mejalody, Basavanabail, Dandare ,Moodanadugod, Navoor and Kavala Padoor villages.  It also has the potential of becoming the main access road to people going towards Vamadapadav, Moodbidri, Beltangady and Bantwal.  The local gram panchayat has laid a mud road for a stretch of four kilometers at Onalu that links Vamadapadav road.  The crossing of rivulet has been the only obstacle for the people to access the villages lying in the vicinity.

Struggles for bridge in vain:

The local villagers have been staging their struggle for building the concrete bridge, since the year 1965.  The struggles have not yielded any results except assurances. A local resident said that the then block development board had sanctioned a small grant for undertaking the bridge works in 1970, but this money was used for some other development purposes, as the amount was grossly insufficient for building the bridge. 

Former local MLAs B V Kakkillaya and N Shivaram had visited the location and given assurances of building a concrete bridge, which have not realized till this day.

Ray of hope:

The villagers saw a ray of hope of getting their long-pending demand of building a concrete bridge in their neighbourhood fulfilled, when the villagers collectively submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, when he visited the taluk headquarters recently.  An executive engineer from the panchayat raj sub division visited the location and prepared an estimate of Rs 1.60 crore.  He also told the people that the works could only be undertaken under some project approved by the state administration.  This engineer has never ever ventured into their village again.

There is water in the rivulet from June to December and the residents of nearly 500 families residing in the neighbourhood are compelled to depend on the areca plant laid to serve as the temporary bridge. The crossing if this make-shift bridge is extremely dangerous and precarious. 

If a concrete bridge is laid across the rivulet here, it would be a boon to the farmers, agricultural labourers, bidi rollers, students and also office-goers.  It would certainly relieve the locals from the ordeal of having to cross the bridge and also of the need to take a round-about route sometimes, in order to reach their destinations.  The locals only hope that the elected representatives will wake up from their slumber and act swiftly to mitigate their woes!