Youngsters in Idukki join hands to repair a bridge in five hours to save stranded villagers
A local youth charity organisation, Friends of Kattapana, came together to build the bridge over the Periyar river that connected the Mlamala village to the nearby town.
After Kerala witnessed one of the worst floods in 2018, the Santhipalam bridge over the Periyar river in Idukki district was rebuilt by the locals who did not wait for the government to take action.
The bridge that connected the Mlamala village to nearby Vandiperiyar town was again destroyed by the rains in 2019, and the situation worsened after the recent rains.
Image: The Better India
However a local youth charity organisation, Friends of Kattapana, came together to build the bridge with the help of other volunteers outside the organisation.
“Most of the people living in Mlamala are plantation workers and their lives depended on this bridge. The adults would still manage to make their way through pocket roads through tea estates or swim but it was exceptionally difficult for the children,” Joshy Manimala, president, Friends of Kattappana, told The Better India.
“The situation worsens during emergencies as the smaller roads through the tea estates are quite unsafe. The rains this year made it even worse and Mlamala had become like a river island completely cut off. All of these things motivated us to take a step,” he added.
Even after the continuous efforts of the students of the Fathima High School with over 1000 petition letters, there was no actionable step taken by the government, despite their promise to repair the bridge.
The team did not want to wait any longer and risked their lives to rebuild the bridge in a day. Not one of them had any prior ‘building’ experience, but just compassion to put an end to the struggles of Mlamala.
The volunteers did everything from manually removing debris, rocks and timber, and arranging them in the gaps to create a bridge. The additional gaps were filled with soil and evened out with an earth mover. The bridge now is even motorable.
The team (Image: The Better India)
"There were only 25 members in the beginning. After we went live on Facebook, many people from organisations like the Orthodox Christian Youth Movement (OCYM) and Kattappana Off-Road Club joined in. By noon, our strength swelled to 150. All of them came voluntarily. In the end, we drove a few vehicles over the bridge much to the happiness of the villagers," Joshy told The New Indian Express.
After the completion of the bridge, Joshy says that the most gratifying feeling was the reaction of the villagers whose eyes welled up in joy.
The Indian Meteorological Department sounded a red alert in Idukki and Wayanad, as Northern and Central Kerala continued to witness heavy rains.
Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan
