Daijiworld Media Network - Sullia (SP)

Sullia, Jun 26: Mogra is a small hamlet within Guthigar village, Sullia taluk. It has a population of about 1,300 to 1,500. Small areas like Kamila, Eranagidde, Malkaje and Ballakka fall under Mogra. Mogra is the centre for these villages and Mogra school serves as a polling centre. For the last many years, this village had no communication facility. Now, the villagers have come together and built a footbridge of their own, which they have rightly named 'Gramasetu'.

Mogra has government school, health sub-centre, Anganwadi, Kannada Devathe alias Purusha Daivasthana, Bhajana Mandir etc. But people find it hard to reach Mogra because of a rivulet flowing though the village. So far, no bridge has been built for Mogra. The children attending school here find it hard to cross the rivulet as a slip can cost them their lives. The demand for bridge here is a longstanding one. People have been requesting for the bridge through different mediums and petitions made to people's representatives. The leaders dole out promises during the elections and then forget them. Therefore the bridge has remained a mirage.

The gram panchayat used to put an areca nut stem across the rivulet for the people to cross. The school children had to cross this slippery, uneven bridge. The villagers wanted to have an iron footbridge on which people can safely walk and even ride two wheelers. The people prepared a plan, made estimate and with the help of Patanjali Bhardwaj, son of Girish Bhardwaj from Sullia, who is known as the champion of footbridges, constructed the footbridge. The footbridge is ready now. Brivera Technologies and Maiora IT Services & Consulting Pvt Ltd and Right To Live, an NGO, also helped teh cause. People of the village have extended monetary help and also contributed by way of physical work for the bridge. People living elsewhere have also contributed. The bridge has become a reality at a cost of about a lac of rupees.

In the last gram panchayat election, people had fought election on the issue of constructing a bridge here. Now, without government help, the villagers have constructed their own footbridge and ensured that children and women can safely cross the rivulet without having to fear for their lives.

A team of young men led by journalist and farmer Mahesh Puchchappady, had worked behind this bridge project. Estimate was prepared on June 5 and the bridge work was completed on June 24. The fact that the work was completed so fast is an indication for the sincerity of the villagers and the need for the bridge. The bridge is about 20 metres long and 12 metres wide.