Sixty-six-year old Bharadwaj, Sullia’s bridge wizard gets ’Padma Shri’

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Jan 26, 2017: "My joy and fulfillment is great I am overjoyed. The credit should go to my entire team. This will inspire us to go forward in service of connecting villages,’’ said Bharadwaj on being asked how he felt about being warded ’Padma Shri’ on this Republic day.

Sixty-six-year old Bharadwaj has already achieved a milestone by building a hundred bridges and is into building 135 metres long bridge number 128 at Dongri, Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada. His 127th bridge was at Kuppepadavu in Mangaluru taluk.

The mechanical engineer from PES College of Engineering, Mandya, aimed at being an MD of an organization and living life large. "In hindsight, I think my father’s blessings ’may you not succeed in your interviews’ when you go with your ’begging bowl’ (a first class engineering degree) was responsible for changing my life. If I had pursued my dream, I would be just another human. Now I have found  happiness in this pursuit.  The immense love and affection I have got from people is an added bonus,’’ says Bharadwaj, who hails from Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada district.

His 100th bridge was built at Mandekolu, Sullia near chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda’s house. "It was sheer coincidence that I completed the bridge when he became the CM and I was fortunate enough to see it being inaugurated during his first visit to the district as CM,’’ said the ’Sardar of bridges’ referred to as ’Vishwesharaya of Sullia’ by the villagers who have benefited from his technology. His bridges have come across three states of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. His bridges are built at 1/10th cost of a conventional bridge and takes about three months as compared to three years of a conventional bridge.