Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB/SP)
Udupi, Jun 12: The unrelenting protest and struggle undertaken by locals for several days to attract the attention of authorities concerned to the dangerous state of Puthige bridge has finally succeeded in getting temporary relief by way of repair to the bridge.
The bed of crushed stones provided at the bases of the three pillars as support to his 65-year old bridge had been battered and washed away because of the force of water over several decades. The bridge therefore was more like a hanging bridge without any support at the bottom. Daijiworld and other media had highlighted the danger posed by this state of affairs in detail along with photographs. The reports had also drawn the attention of the concerned to the possibility of this important link road between two neighbouring districts getting severed.
Officials of National Highways Authority of India, who woke up to the seriousness of the situation, undertook the work of providing concrete jacketing at the bottom of these three pillars. Engineer of the authority, Manjunath Nayak, himself supervised the work personally and saw to it that the entire work was finished within a day.
This concrete casing, it is learnt, dries up within three hours. The metal planks provided as support around it were not removed. The next day itself, River Swarna has begun to witness abundant rainfall and flow in full force. The locals are apprehensive about the concrete jacket getting washed away due to the force of water.
Locals, Ganesh Raj Saralebettu and Sudhakar Shetty, say that they are yet to gain confidence about the capacity of the base now provided to withstand force of water. They feel that the temporary work now undertaken might last for more days only if heavy good trucks are barred from moving on this bridge.
At present, this bridge is very narrow. During the planned expansion of this road, this bridge also will be widened. Manjunath, official of National Highways Authority of India, says that a 14-metre wide parallel bridge will be built to this bridge when executing the highway widening work. The Malpe-Thirthahalli road development work costing Rs 626 crore will be undertaken soon, and discussions at the central government level about this project will be held at a meeting at New Delhi on June 14 and 15, he said. He clarified that once the government gives its approval, grants will be released in stages, and the work will be taken up after calling for tenders. Then this bridge will become wider and stronger, he added.