'Bridge Man of India' Girish Bharadwaj
Passes Away
¨
Girish Bharadwaj,
popularly known as the “Bridge Man of India” and a Padma Shri awardee, passed
away at the age of 76 on 7 July 2026.
¨
He died at a private
hospital in Sullia, Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, where he was
undergoing treatment for a heart-related ailment.
¨
He was a Mechanical
Engineering graduate from PES College of Engineering, Mandya.
¨
Girish Bharadwaj
dedicated more than three decades to constructing low-cost suspension bridges
in India.
¨
He built more than 140
suspension bridges, mainly in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, and
Odisha.
¨
His bridge designs
improved rural connectivity, linking villages with schools, hospitals, markets,
and government services.
¨
He constructed his first
suspension bridge in 1989 across the Payaswini River at Arambur in Dakshina
Kannada.
¨ The Government of India conferred the Padma Shri on him in 2017 for his contributions to rural infrastructure and social service.
¨ He is survived by two sons and one daughter. His wife Usha had passed away earlier.
