Living Root Bridge

In February 2013, I visited the border line area of Indian state of Meghalaya and Bangladesh. This is the famous wettest place on the Earth territory. The streams flow roaring in the monsoon and no one will dare to enter the stream to cross. The villagers constructed bridges to cross the streams. It took years or may be generations to have a bridge in place. Not that they were lazy or there was shortage of funds, only the process was slow. They used the aerial roots of trees to form a bridge. It is called Living Root Bridge. --- Ravindra Apte


I was in driest period of months, Jan – Feb, at the wettest place on earth. The 5 – 6 thousand feet high hill range of Khasi Hills, falls in the direct path of South West Monsoon. Near Cherrapunjee (which was called and still locally called Sohra) the high cliffs of the hills form a sort of semi circle or a horse shoe shape, funneling the monsoon clouds, (coming from the Bay of Bengal and the planes of Bangladesh) from larger area to a smaller region, deflecting the clouds upwards to cooler climate. This creates a high rain fall region of about 100 to 200 sq. kms. Highest rainfall recorded is in 1974. It rained 24555.3 mm (i.e. 80.56 feet). At one end of the arch is Cherrapunjee and at the other end is Mawsynram, the aerial distance being 15 kms. The heavy rain fall is drained by rapidly flowing hill streams, forming formidable torrents dangerous to cross.
The valley is segmented by these streams and make it impossible to reach the villages and fields on the other side of the streams. The hardy and resourceful Khasi villagers found a unique solution of their own; they constructed bridges of living roots. I was heading to one such bridge.
On the way to Mowlang form Cherrapunjee, you cross on a narrow ridge connecting the adjoining hills. On the ridge along the road is the village of Mowshamok. It is a major junction of roads.
One road leads to Mowlang, the other to Laitkynsew, where there is a good resort patronized by living root bridge visitors and the third road leads to the village of Umsohphie, at the head of a steep descent to Nongthymmei village. It is the only way to reach the village at the bottom of valley and some others which are further away. Recently the path is reworked and concrete steps are constructed. Due to the steepness of the path steps are small and cannot accommodate the whole booted foot. There are some railings for protection.
On the slops there are plantations of areca palms. There are no flat lands. There are no regular fields and cultivation in the usual sense, is almost nonexistent. It takes hour or so to descend about 1500 feet to reach Nongthymmai village.
It is a relatively prosperous village, even though one has to reach it on foot. The electricity has reached this remote village. There was running tap water. This is generally the case in almost all the villages of Meghalaya. There was a primary school and a church. The village had a storm water drainage scheme implemented through MGNAREGA. Since the villagers were involved in the implementation of the scheme and they had ample experience of handling the storm water they are able to do a better job. From Nongthymmai village The long root bridge, locally called Rittymmen is close by, spanning the mighty stream separating the village from the areca palm plantations.
The climate and the ecosystem is good for the naturally growing Indian Rubber trees, Ficus elastica. It prefers wet climate and surrounding and has high tolerance to drought conditions. To support itself it grows buttresses and aerial roots that cling to rocks and anchor to soil and help support of heavy branches. It can grow to about 100 feet in height. It has broad shiny leaves. The fast growing aerial roots of F. elastica are guided to form the catenary, the stay lines and even the approach ramp and the supports for bridge deck. The roots are stretched or sometimes guided though bamboos. What you need most is patience and a design of your own traditional wisdom.

It is interesting to observe what we can achieve by way of skill full use of the areal roots. Note there is no joints leave alone any nail or some other foreign material. In rainy season the main areal root forming the catenary sprout new tender roots, which are tamed to form the stay lines. Since the ends of the roots get anchored and fused together it forms a stable structure. The funny part is as the bridge gets older it becomes stronger!
The ladder to reach the bridge deck is also of roots even the steps seen are of roots. The bridge spans about 70 feet. One may think that there will be some one expert in this bridge construction. It is a common knowledge in this area and many villages have their own bridges in use and in different stages of completion. The Long Bridge is the longest in its span.

The stream carries huge boulders and loose rocks. At this time of the year the stream was almost dry. One can imagine the force of the river in the months of monsoon. Such bridges are common in this area. There is one double-decker bridge and it is a major attraction. The bridge is near the village of Nonrgriat, further down the valley at a distance of 2 kms.
There are some root bridges partly constructed and then abandoned. There is a new iron rope suspension bridge, cutting short the distance by half a kilometer. From the iron rope bridge one can see the natural swimming pool formed by the stream.

The path goes thorough a sacred grove. But this one is not in the best condition. Sacred groves are common in Meghalaya, where the forest is protected from exploiters by social taboo. The sacred groves standout; in the generally declined of forests. The social customs and traditions designed for conservation of environment are still functional.
The MGNREGA (The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) was meant to generate community assets. It provides 100 days of work at the daily wage of Rs 125. It is in news frequently for various reasons. In Meghalaya you find the work carried out under this scheme. There are boards displaying the nature of job, the cost incurred, the break up in material and wages and the duration and year of completion. The path constructed under this scheme was good. In regions of high rain fall the gushing water damages the road and path construction. Unless you provide a good drainage for the water the construction would not last. Here you find adequate care is taken for diverting the flowing water or slowing it down over rubbles. The Village Heath Committees are active. There are public dust bins in the villages, constructed under MGNREGA at a cost of Rs 13000/-. The most expensive dust bin I have ever seen. The village of Nongriat is at an elevation of 1000 feet. Being in an enclosed valley is quite hot.

The double-decker bridge is over the stream by which the village is settled. May be there was no intension to have two decks. Construction would have started for the bridge and later would have felt that the roots were not growing well enough and so the second deck construction would have started. Eventually both decks were good enough for a bridge, resulting in a double-decker bridge. It has become a novelty and many visitors come to see it. The village committee recognized its potential and started charging small fee for cameras. One of the elderly person spends time around the bridge

collecting the fee. He is illiterate and you have to fill in the receipt book for him, pay the fees and collect the receipt. From this collection they have built two room Spartan rest house, to be rented if you decide to rest for the night.
Many of the streams eventually meet the Shela River. Which flows to Bangladesh. As the river descends to the planes it widens to great length. The town of Shela is on the its banks. There was a twice a week big Bazaar in the town. It was a prosperous town before the partition. Today the Bazaar is a ghost of its former activity.
Bholaganj is the town right on the border with Bangladesh. It has come into prominence as it exports 16000 tons of lime stones on daily basis to Bangladesh. There will be always a line of truck waiting to cross the border.

The border is just a wire fence. There was a game of cricket going on just near the border. Someone had his kitchen garden extending right up to the border. There is a Shiva temple. It is under a giant tree, none other than the Ficus elastica. It provides a beautiful mandap. It is difficult to find out which is the main tree trunk and which are the aerial root buttress. The statue of Lord Shiva gazes over the International Border. My border trip ended in a serene mood.
Ravindra Apte, Pune, March 2013.