Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (KNNL) is building a road bridge connecting the southern part of Hattikudru, a river island on the Varahi, with the panchayat headquarters Basruru in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district, in response to residents’ decades-long demand for better connectivity to the mainland. Hattikudru was already connected to the mainland on the northern side of Hattiangadi, a pilgrimage site, and spanned around 500 acres. Residents had to take a 14-kilometer detour via Kundapur or utilize boats to get to Basruru. The island’s population is estimated to be approximately 2,500 people, with roughly 300 homes.
As per engineers, the KNNL, which oversees the region’s irrigation needs, reacted to public pressure as well as a letter from the previous Legislative Council Chairman. The project was scheduled to be finished in 12 months when it was launched on December 27, 2019, but it was delayed due to COVID-19. As of Monday, moreover half of the construction on the bridge had been completed from the Basruru side, with the remaining work towards Hattikudru still underway. Pedestrians used a coffer bund and the under-construction bridge to cross the Varahi branch. Previously, pedestrian access to Basruru and Kundapur was given by the Konkan Railway’s bridge on the Mangaluru-Mumbai line.
The 315-meter-long bridge is being built on seven 45-meter spans with support every 15 meters, as per a KNNL assistant executive engineer. The 7.5-meter-wide roadway of the continuous type deck slab bridge is flanked on both sides by 0.9-metre-wide footpaths/utility space. The bridge, which is being built for Rs 19 crore by Philip D’costa & Co. of Kundapur, is slated to be completed in January next year. As per a local on the island, the new bridge will make it easier for locals to go to Udupi, Tirthahalli, and Shivamogga. Another local claimed that inhabitants would no longer have to use boats or take a detour to go to Basruru and that access to different amenities, such as the panchayat, educational institutions, and banks, would be simpler.
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