By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD
Last Friday I wrote about the impact of human inaction vis a vis the impact of flood waters on the historic Srirangapatna Fort, a stone’s throw away from our city. The fast deteriorating state of another iconic marvel of ancient engineering just outside this fort certainly deserves a mention here with a hope that it will receive some restorative attention from our Government authorities. I am talking about the more than two centuries old Wellesley Bridge across the Cauvery which is commonly referred to as the ‘Haley Setuvey’ by the locals. This bridge was the only conduit across the river at that spot till the year 1967 when the new bridge was opened. It was built at a cost of rupees five-and-a-half lakh around the year 1804 by native workers under the supervision of Dewan Poornaiah during the reign of Mummadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar.
