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A Maha bridge that wows Telugus
The high-level bridge across Godavari that wows Telugu people on either side of the river, especially those living in Sironcha -- once the headquarters of Upper Godavari district in the erstwhile Madras Presidency and now a tehsil in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, is finally ready to be throw open to the public on Friday.
Warangal: The high-level bridge across Godavari that wows Telugu people on either side of the river, especially those living in Sironcha -- once the headquarters of Upper Godavari district in the erstwhile Madras Presidency and now a tehsil in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, is finally ready to be throw open to the public on Friday.
The historic link between Sironcha’s Telugus and north Telangana dates back to the times of British rule. Then known as the Upper Godavari district, it extended up to Bhadrachalam, with Telugu being the official language.
After Independence, the region was merged with Madhya Pradesh; subsequently it came under the rule of Maharashtra. Despite intermingling of linguistic cultures, people in Sironcha continued their relations with the people in undivided Karimnagar, Adilabad and Warangal districts.
Many in this part of Maharashtra are known to run to hospitals in Karimnagar and Warangal for accessing better medical care due in proximity. Major cities like Nagpur are at a distance of over 300 km from Sironcha. Besides, Kaleshwaram temple is a famous pilgrim spot for people living on either banks of Godavari.
All said and done, until recently country boats were the only means of transportation for people to cross the river at this spot and there have been quite a few instances of people drowning.
Against this backdrop, the Maharashtra government undertook the construction of a 1.62-km high-level bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 241 crore in 2011 between Chintapalli (Sironcha) and Kannepally, near Kaleshwaram (Jayashankar-Bhupalpally district).
Whether the bridge would be conducive to restoring peace in the restive jungles of insurgency-hit Gadchiroli district is not clear as yet. Still, one can be sure that the bridge would serve as a growth corridor and strengthen socio-cultural ties between the people of the two States.
The bridge, ready for inauguration on Friday, is already a hit among Maharashtra Telugus who frequent the regions owing to their trade and employment reasons, besides paving way for tourism development.
Speaking to The Hans India, Saleem Sheikh, who runs a fast food centre in Sironcha, said: “The newly built bridge is a boon for us. Earlier, we used to wait long time to catch a boat to cross the river.
As our district headquarters Gadchiroli is over 200 km, we have no other go but to cross the river to reach Karimnagar or Chennur (Mancherial district) or Warangal to get emergency medical care.”
Meanwhile, with the likes of Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Telangana Minister for Roads and Buildings Tummala Nageswara Rao descending on Janampalli under the Sironcha tehsil to throw open the bridge for public use on Friday, the police of both the States have tightened vigil in the region.
