KARTIKE, Sindhupalchowk, Jan 18: More than half a dozen villages in Sindhupalchowk district have been cut off from the outer world due to the collapse of suspension bridges during the April 25 earthquake.
The villages of Bolde, Gumba, Kyangsing, Amba Kharka, Tega and Tembathan of Gumba VDC, Sanguling of Golche VDC and Dipugaun that are surrounded by swelling rivers on all sides have been cut off not only from the district headquarters but from the neighboring villages as well.
The suspension bridges that connected the villages with the rest of areas in the district were damaged by the devastating earthquake and its aftershocks. The locals are yet to resume their normal activities since the last nine months.
Payamaila Tamang, a local of Sanguling village, still recalls how his family had a narrow escape as their house collapsed during the earthquake. According to him, the Tamang family had nowhere to go to safety as the suspension bridges were non-functioning due to the quake.
“When we were fleeing toward Tembathan the suspension bridge was already damaged. When we tried to return back to our village, another suspension bridge also collapsed,” he said.
Tamang added that his family members were compelled to stay in the village with little hope of survival. “We survived on empty stomach till sacks of rice and food items were dropped from helicopters,” he said.
Although nine months have already elapsed, the government is yet to install suspension bridges that connect the villages with the rest of the areas. As a result, more than 6,000 households of over six villages in the district have been confined to their own places.
“The government has not yet shown any interest for installing bridges. Our movement has been restricted and we have been deprived of other facilities.
We have been trapped in our own villages and are living under a blockage,” Tamang said.
Tamang has to walk the whole day now just to reach a nearby local market, Kartike Bazar, as he has to find a suitable place to cross the river.
Currently, the villagers like him are worried by the prospect of the advancing monsoon. They think that their lives would be completed confined to their own villages and they would not be able to access basic facilities with the onset of rainy season.
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