Bengaluru: Padma Shri winner for the current term Girish Bharadwaj is familiar name to lakhs of people from Malnad region of the state. He is popularly known as “Bridge Man” for his prowess in building suspension bridges that connect isolated villages.

Girish Bharadwaj is originally from Sullia taluk of the South Canara district. After completing his BE in mechanical engineering from PES Engineering College, Mandya, Girish started his career with a mechanical work shop in his native town Sullia.

He started his journey of building the suspension bridges in 1975 after the fabrication of a 75-meter foot bridge across river Payasvini at Arambur, a remote village in Dakshina Kannada. After the successful completion of this project he never turned back. His company Ayas Shilpa is specialised in the construction of low cost suspension bridges. Till now he has built around 110 such bridges. The longest suspension bridge built by Ayas Shilpa is 220 metres long, across river Ghata Prabha near Belgaum.

Other award winners:

Prof. Udupi Ramachandra Rao, former chairman of ISRO has been selected for Padma Vibhushan award, second highest civilian award of the country. Six others including actress Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, Sukri Bommagowda (folk art), Prof. G. Venkatasubbiah (literature), Shekar Naik (cricket) and Olympian Vikasa Gowda are selected for Padma Shri awards.