Mangaluru: Flavia D'Souza, a homemaker from Pavoor-Uliya island, could not save her husband Basil D'Souza, who suffered a heart attack 17-years ago because he could not reach the hospital on time. Reason: The island, 10km from the city, has no connectivity and the residents depend on a countrymade boat to reach the main land.It's not the sad story of Flavia alone but one of the around 36 families comprising 200 persons on this island. Due to apathy of the people's representatives and the district administration, these people are living in stone-age like era, cut-off from the outer world. Their problems get aggravated when the river swells during rainy season. Risking their lives every day, children cross the river to go to schools and colleges.The 50-acre Island can be reached only by rowing for around 800 metres and one has to then take a two-wheeler ride towards the highway for a further 1.5km. "Everyday is full of adventure for us. Juggling between boat, overflowing river with strong currents and rains, we try to cross the Nethravati and go to schools," shares a student.The Island has around 30 students studying in various schools and colleges. To go to the other end, they have to assemble near a boat boarding area by 6.30am. "As there is salt water, we need atleast 4-5 pairs of footwear every year and we skip classes whenever there is heavy flood in the river," a students adds.Earlier there was a government primary school but it was closed as teachers were unwilling to come. Even the residents have to cross a river and travel almost one kilometre just even to buy the grocery. They pay one and half times more money to get a LPG cylinder transported to their houses. Also, they haven't constructed any new houses from several decades as transportation of raw materials cost them more.Most of the island dwellers here eke out their livelihood by inland fishing and rolling beedis. However, due to rampant sand mining and other ecological imbalance, fishing activity has reduced and they are forced to take up alternative jobs outside their territory.Though they live surrounded by water, they do not have potable water for consumption. Only one well situated adjacent to the chapel has potable water and the entire village depends on it. "We are forced to drink salt water. We first boil then consume it," says Sweetie D'Souza, a student.Engineers on a mission to save islandAlister Sujith Lasrado, a mechanical engineer from Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, who accidentally ventured into the island, learnt about the problems of the people there and along with other 18 budding engineers is on a mission to save this island.The team named as 'Trigon' is running from pillar to post, meeting people's representatives from Pavoor-Uliya gram panchayat to provide relief to the residents of the island. They have also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi explaining the situation. The team has spent around a year inspecting their problems and finding a solution.As a first step, they are raising funds to install RO water facility in the island. "We are doing it by online fund raising and hope to complete project by August," Alister added.

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