Residents and various organisations to launch indefinite dharna from Dec. 9 over delayed Naribol–Chamanur bridge work

Residents of Naribol and Chamanur villages, along with religious heads and members of various organisations, will be launching an indefinite dharna in Kalaburagi city on December 9, demanding immediate resumption of the long-pending bridge work across the Bhima river in Jewargi taluk.

The villagers have demanded the resumption of the Naribol–Chamanur bridge work immediately.

M.S. Patil Naribol, president of Kalyana Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti, in a release, stated that the bridge, located between Naribol village in Jewargi constituency and Chamanur village in Chittapur constituency, which are represented respectively by Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board Chairman Ajay Singh and Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Priyank Kharge, has remained incomplete for nearly seven years.

The project, taken up by KMV company, has been stalled due to alleged negligence by the contractor and officials concerned, he added.

Slabs washed away in recent floods

Mr. Naribol said the bridge needed only the final phase of work to be completed. But the long delay caused damage to the under construction bridge during the recent floods due to which the concrete slabs on the bridge were washed away, leaving the structure broken and unusable.

He said the government had already spent about ₹16 crore for the construction of the bridge and the remaining work required another ₹14 crore. Due to delay in sanctioning the additional funds, the work was halted for years, and the slabs that were already placed on the bridge were left exposed for a long time, he said.

Though the residents of surrounding villages had repeatedly urged the government to complete the bridge work on a war-footing basis, the officials and public representatives showed little interest in completing the project, Mr. Naribol alleged.

The villagers from Naribol, Chamanur, and surrounding areas, along with pro-farmer and pro-Kannada organisations and religious heads of various Mutts, will be launching an indefinite protest in front of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar statue at Jagat Circle in Kalaburagi city on Tuesday.

Padayatra

If the government fails to respond, Mr. Patil warned that the agitators would take a padayatra to Belagavi and stage a demonstration in front of Suvarna Soudha during the ongoing winter session.