Residents demand govt to build bridge at Moolarapatna

The members of Moolarapatna Muthooru Sethuve Horata Samithi along with villagers have demanded the district administration and state government to take measures to build a bridge at Moolarapatna.

The members and villagers staged a protest in front of the deputy commissioner’s office on Monday, putting across their demand.

Advocate B A Haneef said that the bridge had been providing connectivity to Mangaluru taluk with Bantwal.

The bridge collapsed on June 25, 2018, but even a year later, the elected representatives and the state government have failed to ensure the work on a new bridge, to provide connectivity to residents of the surrounding villages.

‘Problem for students’

“Hundreds of commuters, schoolchildren, daily wage labourers – who travel from B C Road to Moolarapatna, Muthooru, Ganjimutt and Kuppepadavu – are inconvenienced without a bridge. After the collapse of the bridge, the number of students pursuing their students at the Karnataka Public School has dwindled due to non-availability of proper connectivity,” said Haneef.

“It is a tragedy that elected representatives are silent on the issue. The local legislator, who speaks on the Gurpura bridge – where works are moving at a faster pace – is silent on the Moolarpatna bridge,” he alleged.

Samithi vice president Jayanth Badagabellur said, “The number of children in the school nearby has declined. Unable to spend on school vehicles, I have had to change the school of my son.”

To help the residents and schoolchildren from Ganjimutt, Taremar, Kuppepadavu, Muthooru, Kajiguri, Ermal and Sornadu to reach B C Road and Mangaluru, the work on the bridge should be completed, he demanded.

‘Burden for poor’

Vice president Bikkod Shareef pointed out, “The only health clinic near Moolarapatna is situated at Yermal. The sick from Muthooru, Kolavooru, Kuppepadavu, Boliya and Taremar have to spend Rs 800 to travel barely 20 km to reach the health facility without a bridge, which proves a burden for the poor patients.”

Speaking further, Shareef complained that the elected representatives have failed to make an alternative arrangement for the residents.

“To ensure that the elected representatives do not face any embarrassment, we villagers were submitting memoranda to the authorities concerned to construct the bridge. There is a limit to our patience. The representatives, who spend crores of rupees for their resort stay, have failed to understand the woes of the common man,” he criticised.

The protesters raised slogans against the district administration and demanded the construction of the bridge to help the residents from Moolarapatna, Kajiguri, Yermal and Sornadu to reach Mangaluru and B C Road.

Dist bandh warning

The citizens warned of calling a district bandh if the demands are not fulfilled at the earliest.

The protesters demanded the deputy commissioner to arrive at the spot and receive their memorandum. As the deputy commissioner was at a meeting, an official from the Public Works Department met the protesters and received the memorandum.

The PWD official told reporters that a new estimate for the construction of the bridge is being prepared. The work is likely to begin by the end of September.

The protesters warned of intensifying the protest in the first week of October if the work is not started by the end of September.