The island village that gets cut off every monsoon
With the lone bridge connecting it to the mainland getting dismantled every monsoon, the island of Pavoor Uliya in Karnataka becomes completely isolated for several months each year.
In summer, they use the lone bridge on the island to reach the mainland. In the rainy season, Pavoor Uliya gets cut off from the rest of the world, as the bridge is dismantled. If the structure gets submerged, it can be reassembled only in December.
“The bridge sinks in the rain and then it gets very difficult to dismantle it. So it needs to be done before the onset of the monsoon,” said Bajil D’souza, a local resident who has lived all his life on the island. He still remembers the time in 1974, when the whole island was submerged and everyone had to be brought to the mainland. “I was eight years old then,” he recalled.
With no school, hospital or even a shop on the island, people are dependent on the mainland for basic necessities. No one is allowed to enter or leave the island after 7 pm as it can get dangerous at night to cross the bridge. The bridge has been built using areca nut tree trunks and iron poles.
She may look weak now, but the Netravati river can consume the bridge just after a night of heavy rain. In 2021, the structure was completely inundated and suffered immense damage. This year, after the Indian Meteorological Department predicted that the monsoons would enter Kerala on June 4, the residents of the island decided to dismantle the bridge on the same day.
With very few people in sight, Pavoor Uliya looks like a civilisation in decline. A total of 35 families live in Pavoor Uliya. Konkani is their mother tongue. All but one of the families follow Christianity. A church named Infant Jesus Church is located on the island.
Many families have left the island for the mainland. Locked houses covered with cobwebs are a common sight. The old Kannada medium school building has been claimed by vegetation. It seems teachers could not travel from the mainland to the island.
In the rainy season, people depend on boats to move between the island and the mainland. There are two boats – one each from the taluk panchayat and the church – that they use.
“It gets very difficult for children and the elderly to move about in the rainy season. We have to wait for a long time to use the boats,” said Ida, a local resident. Her daughter is pregnant and the lack of facilities on the island worries her constantly. A hanging bridge would permanently solve the problem, she added.
In 2014, the then Minister for Health and Family Welfare of Karnataka, U T Khader, said that a hanging bridge would be made on the island by the state government. However, the project is yet to see the light of day.
When multiple appeals to the state and central governments failed, the people decided to take matters into their own hands. In 2017, under the leadership of Fr. Jerry Lobo, funds were raised and the village residents came together to build a footbridge at a cost of Rs 18 lakh. This is however a temporary fix.
Also Read | Assam villagers dread wrath of ravaging river
Amulya B is a multimedia journalist, writer and translator based in Bengaluru. Her stories explore the intersection of culture, society and technology. She is the winner of Toto Funds the Arts for creative writing and Laadli Award. She is a Rural Media Fellow 2022 at Youth Hub, Village Square.
The lead image at the top shows the only bridge that links the mainland to the village island that gets dismantled each monsoon season.