KARWAR
It has been three years since a bridge was washed away by floods. Though the chief minister and former chief ministers have visited the site, the bridge has not been reconstructed so far. As a result, the villagers are forced to walk on the temporary bridge with their lives in their hands.
The villagers of Heggaru, Kalleshwara and Halavalli in Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada district are forced to cross the river with their lives in their hands as the new bridge has not been constructed. The bridge constructed across the Gangavali river to connect Gullapura to Heggaru village in Yellapur taluk was washed away in the 2020 floods. The then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and current Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had also visited the spot and assured that the bridge would be constructed at the earliest. However, even after three years, the bridge has not been constructed. : “We can distribute ration locally through cooperative societies, but we can transport ration by boat. But now this is not possible. There is no need to go to hospitals. School and college students are suffering. We have appealed to the MLAs and ministers in this regard. Therefore, necessary action should be taken immediately,” said Jayaprakash Gaonkar of Heggaru village.
The bridge area is the constituency of MLA Shivaram Hebbar and his hometown is also located. Earlier, the BJP government had promised to rebuild the bridge, but it has remained a promise so far. The bridge, which was the main link connecting more than 10 villages on the other side of the Gangavali river, has collapsed, leaving people and students in the area struggling to move around every day.
