Mysuru: With the river Cauvery in spate heritage lovers fear Srirangapatna’s Wellesley Bridge could go the way of Lushington Bridge in Kollegal. Lushington Bridge was washed away recently and heritage lovers are demanding that the state government take steps to preserve Wellesley Bridge, which dates back to early 1800s.Aghast over Lushington Bridge being washed away, Prof N S Rangaraju, member of the heritage committee, told TOI, “We are saddened that the Lushington Bridge was washed away due to heavy inflow of water. Had the authorities concerned taken steps to restore the bridge and had they given it the attention and care it needed, the bridge would have been saved.”Rangaraju said Wellesley Bridge must be conserved since it “is of immense historical significance”. “It was built in 1804 during the reign of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar at a cost of Rs 5.5 lakh,” Ranjaraju said. “The construction was supervised by Diwan Poornaiah. The over two-century-old bridge was named after the then governor, General Marquis of Wellesley.”In those days, Rangaraju said, the bridge linked Mysuru and Bengaluru and it connected Bengaluru and Kodagu via Mysuru. About 10 years ago, following heavy rain, about 1.1 lakh cusecs of water was released from the Krishnaraja Sagar dam and it almost submerged the bridge. Should a similar incident happen now, it will pose a threat to the bridge, said Rangaraju.Echanur Kumar, member of the Srirangapatna and Mysuru heritage committee said, “The Arthur Wellesley Bridge was built in memory of British colonel Arthur Wellesley who led the British regiment against Tipu Sultan in the 1799 war. It was the first work executed by the then Diwan Poornaiah. The bridge was instrumental for Poornaiah’s career. He received an award for his work on the bridge and also received a pension for his supervision work.”Rangaraju and Kumar both believe excessive vegetation could weaken the bridge.“There is a lot of vegetation on the bridge which needs to be cleared,” said Rangaraju. “The government generally neglects maintaining heritage buildings and structures.”Kumar insisted that conservation engineers and experts should oversee maintenance work and not civil contractors “as this will spell doom for any heritage structure”.Urging authorities to declare the bridge a monument, Rangaraju said, “It’s over 200 years old and it meets the criteria to be declared a monument. Should that happen, it will be the first bridge in Karnataka to be declared a monument. Since restoration work is being down on the Srirangapatna fort, lime and mortar and all other materials can be procured from there. It won't be any additional burden to the heritage department.”- Shivendra Urs

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