Connecting People, Malpe-Padukere Bridge to be inaugurated on March 18
Udupi: Connecting people and to promote new tourism opportunities, Malpe-Padukere Bridge is set to influence tourism in Udupi district. The bridge is the fruit of 40 years of struggle continued by the residents of Padukere who had to rely on boats to reach Malpe. The people of Padukere depend on fishing for their livelihood.
The distance to Padukere from Malpe port is 800 meters. Padukere is an island where 15000 people reside. They had to either depend on the boat to commute to Malpe or take another 10 km to reach Malpe by road. Those commuting daily to Malpe faced severe hardship to reach their destination on time. Students, labourers and others used to commute by boat to reach Malpe.
Former MLA K Raghupati Bhat through budgetary allocation sanctioned a bridge from Malpe to Padukere. The tender process was initiated and the foundation stone was laid on February 10, 2013. Yojaka India won the bid but the project faced various technical delays with the design and modification. The tender process was initiated for Rs 13.5 crore but due to modification in the design, the cost was escalated to Rs 16.91 crore. Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Minister in-charge District with his efforts got more funds for the project to meet the escalating cost. The bridge has 9 pillars and is 315 meters long and 15 feet in height.
The Padukere beach is a virgin beach which is unexplored because of poor access. There are very few tourists on the beach, now with the bridge being constructed more tourists are likely to be attracted to Padukere. The beach will be brought under the Malpe Beach Development Committee for initiating better development projects.
The construction work of the bridge has been completed and will be inaugurated by Minister Pramod Madhwaraj on 18 March at 5:00 pm.