PADMA Shri awardee Girish Bharadwaj, widely known as the ‘Bridge Man of India’ for building low-cost suspension bridges in remote villages, died at a private hospital in Sullia early on Tuesday after a brief illness, family sources said. He was 76. A mechanical engineer from Sullia in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, Bharadwaj devoted over three decades to connecting isolated rural communities by constructing more than 140 suspension footbridges across the country, many in inaccessible regions.

 

His innovative, low-cost bridge designs transformed the lives of thousands by providing year-round access to schools, hospitals and markets. Bharadwaj built his first suspension bridge in 1989 across the Payaswini River. His work later expanded across Karnataka, Kerala and several other States, earning him the title “Bridge Man of India”. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to rural connectivity and social service, he was conferred the Padma Shri in 2017 by the Government of India.