Kushalnagar: The Kodagu District Administration has shelved the ambitious project of constructing a hanging bridge at Dubare that was originally planned to be 110 metres in length and having a width of 1.8 metres. The funds that were sanctioned for the project have been withdrawn and it has been used for COVID relief.

The proposal of the hanging bridge was submitted by Kodagu Tourism Department to the Forest Department and the latter had opined that as thousands of tourists visit Dubare every year, a hanging bridge that connects one side of the river to the other would be an added attraction. 

River Cauvery flows in full force here and the two sides can only be accessed by motorised boats at present. While one side of the river bank is controlled by the Tourism Department, the other by the Forest Department that runs the popular Dubare Elephant Camp. 

The proposed hanging bridge was to have three columns — two at the sides and one in the middle — and 1.8 metres wide. The Tourism Department first sent a proposal in 2015-2016 and the estimated cost was Rs. 2.35 crore. The estimate was later revised in 2020 to Rs. 4 crore and Rs. 1.5 crore was reserved for the purpose. 

District Administration sources told Star of Mysore that while the Forest Department wanted either Nirmithi Kendra or Tourism Department to construct the hanging bridge, the Tourism Department wanted both Forest Department and Nirmithi Kendra to work in tandem to make the bridge a reality. However, no consensus was reached and the project has been shelved now. The Rs. 1.5 crore reserve money has been utilised for COVID relief in Kodagu, sources added.