The beauty of Karnataka’s Charmadi Ghats, which is a part of the Western Ghats, has been accessible to travelers for decades, thanks to a 27-km motorable road between Kotigehra village in Chikmagalur and Charmadi in Dakshina Kannada.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Charmadi Ghat was as beautiful for travelers as it was for vehicles, thanks to the narrow National Highway 234 (now NH 73) that weaves its way through the hills with 12 hairpin turns. It was just as deceptive. The Ghat section was often considered too dangerous for vehicles – especially at night – due to hundreds of accidents on the road.
Due to the lack of telephone connection in the remote mountains, accident victims have lost their lives due to lack of timely treatment.
In 1971, at the age of 20, a man who opened a hotel named Hotel Charmadi in Charmadi village decided to devote himself to the work of rescuing accident victims and taking them to Belthangadi Taluk Hospital in 1986. Dakshina Kannada used his meager resources – whenever he heard of accidents and roadblocks in remote hills.
Charmadi Hasanabba, now 73, is a legendary figure in the history of the Charmadi ghats and an unsung hero for thousands of accident victims when the ghats were a treacherous place to drive — often at night and when the monsoon rains descended in full flow.
Due to the narrow National Highway 234 (now NH 73) that runs through 12 hair-raising hills, Charmadi Ghat is as beautiful for the passengers as it is for the vehicles. (file image)
“In the olden days, the road was narrow at Karamadi Ghat. There was heavy traffic. The road was often blocked by fallen trees and if it rained heavily, it was very difficult to drive. There were always accidents. Deep in the mountains there was no means of communication of the accident. The only way to get help was to come to Charmadi village and call the police,” recalls Charmadi Hasanabba from his hospital bed in Mangaluru where he was undergoing treatment for a heart ailment.
“When people came to Charmadi to inform about the accident and call the police for help, the police could not reach the accident site on time because there was Belthangadi police station near Charmadi Ghat. It has 73 other villages under its jurisdiction,” Hasanabba said.
“When there is an accident, someone has to call for help in Karamadi and the police have to come from 30 km away in Belthangadi, so the victims remain without food, water or help for hours. This was happening for a long time,’ he added.
“Then we decided to go to the accident site after receiving the news at my hotel. We will take pictures with a still camera of the site – which the police need – and we will take the victims to the hospital with the available vehicles – a truck or my own car,” Hasanabba added.
With the passage of time, when there was an accident at Charmadi Ghat, word spread that Hasanabba should be contacted at Hotel Chardmadi in Charmadi village for help as soon as possible. In the early days, he did not buy his own car in the 1990s, Hasanabba would reach the accident site in any available vehicle.
“In the early years, taking the victim to Belthangadi Hospital was a lot of trouble. The hospital wanted to know how the victim was brought for treatment. They wanted to identify vehicle owners to serve as witnesses. I had a lot of fights with the hospital staff – once I angrily told them to write ‘Hasanabba brought the victim to the hospital on his shoulder’,” the 73-year-old recalled in tears.
“We had a lot of questions to ask the hospital as we only focused on saving the victim by welcoming the first available vehicle,” he pointed out. “We have been doing this service to humanity and slowly people started recognizing that effort,” he added.
An incident etched in his memory, which served as an incentive to continue helping people at Charmadi Ghat, occurred in 1986 when a father-son lost consciousness in a truck accident.
“Someone came to the ghat and informed me. At 3 am I hired a vehicle, picked up the victim and took him to Belthangadi hospital. The hospital said that their condition is critical and they have to be taken to Mangalore. We took them from the accident site to Belthangadi and we could not drop them so we hired another car and took the victims to Mangalore,” Hasanabba recalled.
“In Mangalore, the doctors told us that nothing could be done until the victim regained consciousness or the relatives of the victim gave their consent. We had no family details. There was a suitcase in the truck in which we found the address of the truck owner. We sent one person in a bus to the Chikmagalur address and I stayed with the victims until the family came to the hospital the next day,” Hasanabba said.
After the victims regained consciousness and were discharged from the hospital, the entire family went to Hasanabba’s house and thanked Hasanabba’s mother profusely. “My mother told me then that what I was doing was God’s work. I may have to go to the police station and the court for this, but I should not stop this work,” Hasanabba said.
Over the years, Hasanabba’s social service has made him recognized beyond Karamadi Ghat. In 2023, the Government of Karnataka awarded him the Rajyotsav Award for Social Service to mark the anniversary of the State Formation Day. Hasanabba used the award cash of Rs 5 lakh to buy an ambulance to continue serving the people at Charmadi Ghat.
“When I started doing this community service, I never imagined that it would recognize me in the form of a state award. Such was the time. I used the award money and gave my own three lakh rupees to buy an ambulance. I still have a car but an ambulance is more convenient to take people to the hospital,” Hasanabba said.
‘I will continue social service. God has given satisfaction by saving many lives,’ he said.
“Human life is precious and that’s what keeps me going. There are still dangers in the ghats but it’s a much safer place now because of the wide road and communication system,” the 73-year-old said.
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