The village of Sadebag issituated on the banks of river Selaulim and is just 1 km away from the bustlingSanguem town.
In absence of a bridge acrossthe Selaulim river, Sadebag remains cutoff from the town.
One side of the river comesunder the jurisdiction of the municipality while the other side falls under theUgem panchayat.
In fact both the municipalityand the panchayat had passed a resolution of building a bridge to connect thevillage to the town.
There are 130 familiesstaying in the Sadebag
In absence of a bridge thevillagers wade across the shallow water to reach Sanguem. If the river is inspate the residents have to walk a distance of 3 kms and use the footbridge atPaikdev.
In monsoons, the students aswell as the residents including women face a lot of hardship to cross theriver. For school and market the villagers have to travel to Sanguem. Theentire village is dependent on the Sanguem market for their day to day needs.
Sudesh Gaonkar informed thatduring a medical emergency it is a challenge to cross the river with a patient.“If the river is full, the only other option is to walk more than threekilometers to reach to the nearest health centre or a doctor,” Gaonkar added.
If a bridge is constructedacross the river it will also reduce the travelling distance to villages ofVishnubag, Temchowada, Dabamal and Kotharli, a local informed.
The village also lacks properroad connectivity. Manoj Naik a resident of the village said that for the last25 years they have been using a road which was temporarily prepared during theconstruction of the canal for the Salaulim dam. “There are no street lights forthe road which runs parallel to the canal. During the nights there is apossibility of accidentally falling into the canal,” Naik said.
Two councilors in SanguemMunicipal Council, Dipak Marathe and Revansidh Naik have urged the governmentto construct a bridge across river Salaulim.
The Chairperson of theSanguem Municipality, Changuna Salgaonkar and the Sarpanch of Ugem havealso supported the move.
“Sanguem remained neglectedover the years, as the MLA was in the opposition,” said Nitesh Vadil, aresident of Sanguem.
Locals have now demanded thatthe MLA should intervene and use his good offices to construct the bridge overthe river.
“There are no two ways aboutthe necessity of the bridge. But it should be built 1 km away from the proposedsite, so that it will benefit other villagers around,” said Sanguem MLA,Subhash Faldessai. “I will talk to the chief minister and expedite theconstruction of the bridge,” Faldessai added.
