Pramod Madhwaraj inaugurates Malpe-Padukere Bridge the long-awaited dream

Pramod Madhwaraj inaugurates Malpe-Padukere Bridge the long-awaited dream 

Pics By Prasanna Kodavoor, Team Mangalorean

Udupi: The long-awaited Malpe-Padukere Bridge connecting Malpe Fisheries Harbour with Padukere was inaugurated on Saturday, March 18.

The programme began with an invocation, Manjunathaiah commissioner of Udupi City Municipal Council welcomed the gathering. Pramod Madhwaraj district minister in-charge and also Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports inaugurated the Malpe-Padukere Bridge by unveiling the Plaque and also cutting the ribbon.

In his Inaugural message, Pramod Madhawarj said that today is a golden day for the residents of Padukere because their dream of many years is fulfilled. People of Padukere village have been using traditional boats to cross the Udyavar rivulet to reach Malpe and vice-versa for years. The alternative was to take the road, through which case they had to travel about 18 km to reach Malpe. The construction of this bridge was to do away with people’s dependence on the boat service and provide faster road connectivity between the two places. I thank former minister Late Dr V S Acharya and former MLA of this region Raghupathi Bhat for their efforts in sanctioning the bridge during their tenure.

The previous BJP government had approved the project, it was after the Congress government came to power in the State that the change of design of the bridge was approved and the project monitoring committee formed. The funds required for the bridge too were provided. The first instalment of funds was released in October 2013. A sum of Rs 13.5 crore had been spent for the construction of the bridge. The width of the bridge was increased from 4.2 metres to 5.25 metres.

The approach road to the bridge was constructed in Padukere at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, while on the other at Malpe it was constructed at a cost of Rs 60 lakh. The Padukere Beach, which is a virgin beach, will be developed into a major tourist centre. I have already instructed the deputy commissioner to bring Padukere Beach under the Malpe Beach Development Committee which will help in developing it in the coming days, he added.

To help the road transport for this region I have applied for 3 KSRTC JnNurm bus permits for the Malpe – Padukere Route. The RTA Meeting will be held on March 21 and buses will soon ply on this route. The Siddaramaiah government is committed to the overall development of the fishermen in the state. Last year the chief minister had given Rs 120 crore subsidy on diesel for the fishing boats. In this year’s budget the chief minister has hiked the diesel subsidy amount from Rs 120 crore to Rs 157 crore, he said.

Meenakshi Madhava Bannaje, Sandhya Thilakraj, Shobha Kakkunje, Vijay Kundar, Prashanth Ameen, Hormis Noronha, Ganesh Nergi, Sathish Ameen Padukere, Jagadish Bolur, Janardhan Thonse, Divakar Kundar, Hiriyanna Kidiyoor, Celina Karkada, Prashanth Bhat, Janardhan Bhandarkar, Shashiraj Kunder, Yuvaraj and others were present.