In this village, monsoons mean confinement

50-year-old bridge connecting Behere to nearest town gets submerged every year

Watery path: Schoolchildren from Behere village wade through the flooded bridge built over the Bhatsa river in Kalyan taluk to reach their school, which is three kilometres away.

Residents of Behere village, 20 kilometre from Kalyan, find themselves cut off from the rest of the world every monsoon. The reason: the 50-year-old bridge connecting the village to the nearest town gets submerged when the level of the Bhatsa Dam rises.

Behere with a population of 300, including 80 children, is an agricultural village. For education and health services, the residents have to travel to Shahpur.

Residents say that the Irrigation Department built the bridge 50 years ago over the Bhatsa river and later constructed the dam. The maintenance of the bridge was later transferred to the Public Works Department. As the bridge was constructed before the dam, the rise in water levels in the dam was not taken into account.

Residents say during the monsoons they have to make a 35-km trip around the dam. It involves waking through a rough terrain and crossing a railway track. Khadavli, the nearest railway station, is 10 kilometres away.

“My father lost his life because of the government’s negligence,” said Rahul Kauthere, a Behere resident whose father was run over by a train in 2006. Mr. Kauthere’s father was one of the four residents who have lost their lives while crossing the railway track so far.

Behere natives say for at least a week every year, when the water levels in the river are at their highest, ailing residents and pregnant women have to go without medical care. Students are also unable to attend school in Shahpur. As many as 12 residents, one of them a pregnant woman, have died due to lack of medical facilities in the past 10 years.

Local social worker Baban Harne said, “The bridge broke down two years ago and even after it was repaired. No efforts were made to raise its level to avoid it from being submerged. For the past five years, the local MLAs has been promising to take up the issue with the PWD. However, there has been no progress so far. If no steps are taken till next year, the government will have to face a mass movement.”

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kisan Katore said, “I have submitted a proposal to the PWD and will make sure that the needful is done as soon as possible.”