CHIKMAGALUR: All was not well in Chanduvalli, which in Kannada means well-maintained village, until the villagers ventured to take on themselves the task of constructing a bridge across a stream after the decentralised panchayat administration did not heed their requests.
Chanduvalli is a secluded hamlet three kilometres from the Kottigehara-Balehonnut road in Koove Gram Panchayat limits of Mudigere taluk. The village has a strength of 65 households from all communities, including SC/STs. Most families have a moderate income.
However, once the monsoon sets in, the villagers face their real worry. Every year, torrential rains in Malnad floods all the streams, cutting off villages like Chanduvalli from the main link. This forces the villagers to use makeshift options like logs as a bridge to cross the streams. After repeated pleas to the Koove Gram Panchayat fell on deaf years, the villagers decided to construct a small bridge with a contribution of `5,000 from each family.
The project was looked after by Vishwanath, Gajendra, Alphonso Pereira, Chandru and Chandre Gowda and after its completion recently, was inaugurated by an elderly woman called Manigajji.
Koove GP president K B Shivaraj clarified that the GP does not have sufficient funds to take such developmental works and it is the duty of the Zilla and Taluk Panchayat to take up such works.
ZP member Arekuduge Shivanna said that there are hundreds of such villages in Malnad and developmental works will be taken up in a phased manner.