Anantapur: Man on a mission to showcase historical legacy

Anantapur: The pathetic thing behind the rat race of life is the beauty of the historical remains that stare at us every day but none takes time to stop and have a glance at such monuments nor listen to its story.

Right under the nose of the residents of the city is an imposing structure of a 100-year-old 'Rachanapalle Bridge' built by the British using the services of an Indian engineer Raghavan but none is aware of the history of the bridge built 100 years ago on November 22, 1921. This very bridge was responsible for advancement of trade and commerce between Anantapur and Bellary, the erstwhile territory of AP but in the process of formation of linguistic states the Bellary town was merged with Karnataka. However, the famous Rachanapalle bridge built bridges between the twin towns Bellary and Anantapur remained in AP. Even today hundreds of vehicles pass through the rich economic route using the bridge.

While everyone is blissfully ignorant or neglecting the great legacy, one A G Anil Kumar Reddy is thinking differently. He wants to awaken the citizens of the city from apathy and showcase the rich historical monuments and share the story of the remains of history that go un-noticed. Immediately he gave wings to his passion and created a Facebook group called 'discover anantapur' but it is not just creating a Facebook group, first with his own funds he renovates the old structure without disturbing its originality and gives a facelift giving it a new look and then posts in the Facebook to tell its story to the local citizens.

The bridge is 370 feet in length and 27 feet in breadth with 14 pillars and 12 arches. Anil Kumar is applying his mind on showcasing all such monuments of historical importance in the district.

Speaking to 'The Hans India', Anil said that he is spending his personal fortune on this project as he believed in paying back to the society in this form. He believes in self contentment and in inspiring the society to turn into a voluntary force to bring back history alive. This he calls it Citizen's Social Responsibility as against the much-touted Corporate Social Responsibility.