Villagers demand road from Shishila to Bhairapura

The demand of the villagers to lay a connecting road from Shishila to Bhairapura, which was raised way back in 1970s during the visit of then PM Indira Gandhi to the district, has not materialised even after four decades. 

Now, the villagers have decided to take up the cause once again and hope that the road will be a reality.  Bhairapura village is located 22 kms away from Mudigere taluk and Nanyabhairaveshwara Swamy temple is situated adjacent to Balur Reserve Forest, at a distance of two-km from Bhairapura.

Shishila hill is again located at a distance of two-km from the temple. Taluk centre has constructed a road till the temple, where as the one that connects Shishila hill is kutcha  road. 

On the other side of the hill is Holegandi village in Shishila in Dakshina Kannada district on NH 48. The villagers demand is to construct a asphalt road to Holegandi so as to improve the connectivity between two districts.

Ask any elder in Bhairapura and they tell the tale of how villagers used to walk to other side of Shishila hill to reach Dharmasthala. When Indira Gandhi had contested the election from Chikmagalur district, the villagers had placed a demand to construct the road and she had promised of fulfilling their demand. 

As the promise was not met, a proposal was submitted to the government when D K Taradevi was the union minister. It was then, Shishila Bhairapura Rasthe Nirmana Samiti was formed and the Samiti has ben fighting for the road since then.

Of the 21-km road that has to be constructed, seven-km road has to pass through Balur Reserve Forest which has become an obstacle in the process. 

The officials claim that the Environment and Forest Ministry does not approve the project. Though according to the forest rules, the State government has to give permission for the construction of less than 40-km road, a Central government official asks how can the State pass the buck to the Centre. Environmentalists too have been opposing the proposal as they fear it would harm bio-diversity.

“We are not asking for a new road, but we are only requesting them to improve the kutcha  road which already exists between Shishila and Bhairapura. It will help to provide basic facilities to the villages that lack development. It will also help to reach Dakshina Kannada by travelling a short distance,” said Oorubage Gram Panchayat President D M Ravindra Balegadde. 

Construction of road will help Hanbal, Devalkere, Devarunda, Mekanagadde, Gowdalli, Hoskere and other villages in Hassan to connect Dakshina Kannada district.