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The hanging bridge across Madisalu River adjoining Uppur and Heroor is nestled in the midst of the naturally flowing gorgeousness of the atmosphere. A glance at the ambiance footing on the bridge immerses one in the melody of the river song fine tuned with the voice of the blustery weather.

This bridge is a grave necessity for the people residing in both the regions. The connectivity between Uppur and Heroor covers long distance and the existence of the bridge reduces the distance to a minimal.

Prior to 2008, people would cover nearly 10 kms to maintain the connectivity between two places, following which, people in the region of Heroor decided to construct bridge as they had to often visit Uppur owing to religious purposes and also to offer prayers at Garodi. As a result of all attempts to convince the people representatives failed, a philanthropist Vishwanath Sanil came forward to take up the responsibility of constructing the bridge and bear the expenses. The entire cost was around Rs 20-30 lakhs. People in the region heaved a sigh of relief owing to the hanging bridge that came up in the area.

The concept of hanging bridge was designed as the normal bridge would not be feasible at the estimated cost. The length of the bridge is 130 meter and initially the height was five meter above the river level. The hanging bridge made it possible for the people to cover the 10 kms length of distance barely by covering half kilometer.

They had got an easy access to both the areas, especially the people in Uppur were happy as problems such as sending their children to schools, marketing their products was solved with the availability of hanging bridge facility. 

Bridge damaged

However, the happiness of the people was shattered when the bridge was severely damaged owing to heavy rain during the last monsoon. One again the connectivity was lost between the two areas and people had to pay hefty sum of Rs 200 for the auto rickshaws during the needy hours.

Vishwanath Sanil once again proved to be the Samaritan to the people of Uppur and Heroor.

Vishwanath got the bridge repaired with modern technology at the additional cost of Rs 20 lakhs.

Speaking to media persons, he said that MLA Raghupathy Bhat had assured to get the bridge repaired during last monsoon. However, his assurance was limited only to lip service.

“We had no other option and I decided to invest again and get it repaired. Now the height of the bridge is nine feet above the River level,” he said.

Shakuntala, a localite said: “We had tough time in managing the routine life like going to the market, sending children to schools. We had to cover nearly 10 to 15 kms. This bridge has made our work easier. Most of the times, we had to depend on boat for crossing the river," she said.

Heroor has the population of around 11,200 and Uppur has a populace of nearly 1,140. The bridge also provides easy access to the areas like Uggelbettu and Heranje.