Meghalaya’s root bridge up for NIF award

Shillong, Feb. 27: Meghalaya s root-bridge has been nominated for the prestigious National Innovation Foundation award for grassroots innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge, officials said here today. It is a community-driven innovation by forest dwellers in the southern slopes of of the state. The recognition is not for any single community, but for all communities who are engaged in growing living root bridges which have simplified bridge construction across rivers and streams here, they said. “We have identified at least nine villages that train and utilises the aerial roots of Rubber Trees (Ficus elastica) to make bridges across water bodies, Wankit Swer, an official at the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority, said.