The above pictures speak a thousands words. Sixty three years after Independence and fifty three years after losing “C” Status, villages in Kodagu continue to be cut off and ignored by their elected representatives. The villages lack basic infrastructures like roads and bridges and we speak of becoming a nuclear power in the near future.
The pictures are from a small village Nandanahalli in Somwarpet taluk about 20 kms from the taluk head quarters. Nandanahalli is an idyllic village situated in northern fringes of Kodagu and receives 300 inches of rain fall annually and is bifurcated by the Kumara dhara river. Life for the villagers is a living hell since they remain cut off from the rest of the world for four months in a year, because all their pleas for a bridge connecting their villages have fallen on deaf ears.
The villagers have constructed a suspension bridge out of cane and palm to cross the river. Young and old have to make this precarious journey, every day, where one slip could mean instant death.
The villagers of Nadanahalli hope they wont have to wait another sixty three years for a bridge to connect their village. They hope and pray that the powers that be will fulfil their basic demands.