Yavatmal: Tired of facing multiple problems in crossing Painganga river, particularly during monsoon every year, and elected representatives and officials turning a blind eye to their repeated representations, residents of Palsi village in Umarkhed tehsil of Yavatmal district have set an example by building a new bridge themselves.
The 70-ft-long Palsi-Manula bridge is 16ft wide and was constructed in just 9 days. The bridge is proving to be a boon for villagers in Palsi, Pophali, Kupti, and Mulava villages in Umarkhed tehsil, and Manula, Mathala and Sirad in Nanded district of Marathwada.
Palsi village, 20km from tehsil headquarters Umarkhed and 150km from Yavatmal, is situated on the border of Vidarbha and Marathwada regions and has a population of little over 2,000.
Earlier, the villagers had approached MLAs, members of Parliament, Maharashtra ministers, collector and officials of government departments with a demand for the bridge. However, the demand remained neglected.
Shiv Sena’s member of Yavatmal Zilla Parishad Chitangrao Kadam, who had earlier been involved in building three small bridges, proposed the villagers get the bridge built themselves. He took the lead and collected Rs16 lakh through crowdfunding. The villagers not just contributed money, but also offered their services as part of shramdaan, and also arranged construction material.
Using RCC pipes as the base structure, the villagers, with the help of masons, completed the bridge in just 9 days. The work started on November 20 and was completed on November 28.
The work costing over Rs1 crore as per the state government estimate has been completed by spending only Rs15.80 lakh, said Kadam.
“Had the villagers kept waiting for the state to act, the bridge would have never been built. The state administration seemed unwilling to spend a single pie on any new project. We have accomplished the task and the credit goes to every villager,” said Kadam.
After the bridge was completed, sitting MP from Hingoli Hemant Patil (Shiv Sena), sitting MLAs of Umarkhed Namdevrao Sasane (BJP) and Hatgaon Madhavrao Patil Jawalgaonkar (Congress), government officials and others visited the site and lauded the efforts of the people.
Earlier, Pophali-based sugar factory used to construct a temporary bridge-like structure to transport sugar cane of the farmers. However, after it was washed away in recent floods, people had to travel over 45km from Palsi to reach nearby Manula village in Marathwada.
INFORMATION
ROAD MAP
Nov 20 | Construction started
Nov 28 | Bridge Completed
70ft | Length
16ft | Width
Rs16 lakh | Collected through crowdfunding
Rs15.8 lakh | Actual expenses