Neupane was crossing the Mahakali at Bartighat of Sunsera VDC-4 while returning to Khalanga--district headquarters of Darchula-- after inspecting a project run in the VDC by the World Food Program (WFP). [break]
"The ´twin´ rope broke abruptly when he was half way cross the river," said Surendra Samanta, a sub-engineer accompanying Neupane, adding that he had used the ill-fated crossing right after two locals crossed the river without any difficulty.
Locals tried their best to fish out Neupane but without success. Neupane and Samanta were heading towards Khalanga with the aim of reaching Dadeldhura by Thursday evening.
"We used the ´twin´ rope after inquiring with locals about the condition of the rope," said Samanta, who was taking visuals of Neupane crossing the river. He had used the ´twin´ rope to avoid long travel distance. "He was confident of getting across the river," said Samanta, who had kept Neupane´s bag with him.
Sher Singh Dhami, chief of Sunsera Police Post, said Neupane´s belongings including a camera, two mobile sets, photographs, academic certificates, an ID card and Rs 11,669 in cash were found in the bag.
Manja Bohara of Malkot-8 in Kalikot district lost his life on April 15 while using a similar ´twin´ rope to cross the Khulalu River that flows between Bharta and Lalu villages.
Bohara fell into the river after he lost his balance in the ´twin´ rope cart which was also carrying construction material from Manma--the district headquarters.
Angered by the death of 35-year-old Bohara, locals had closed down the ´twin´ rope crossing. The service resumed two days later after the Khulalu Agriculture Group, which operates the crossing, paid compensation of Rs 50,000 to the family of the deceased.
Dev Datta Badu, a teacher at Shree Sindhar Lower Secondary School in Rapla of Darchula district, also fell a victim to the ´twin´ rope while returning from district headquarters Khalanga.The device broke down when he was returning to school after some official work at the District Education Office. He disappeared into the Mahakali River.
Neupane, Bohara and Bhatta are not the only victims of this risky mode of crossing. Locals of remote hill districts have no alternative to using it to get across the rivers.
Dharma Bhandari, a ´twin´ rope operator in Kalikot said over 90 persons have been injured in the district while using such devices in the last few years.
In the absence of reliable means for crossing rivers such as proper bridges, dozens of people are losing their lives using ´twin´ rope outfits which have been left without maintenance for years.
Most of the casualties have been reported in Baitadi, Darchula and Daleldhura districts in the Far Western Region. Due to lack of permanent bridges over the Mahakali River which borders India, locals have no option but to use the ´twin´ ropes.
Locals in bordering districts in the far west have also been intimidated by India security officials who cut off the ´twin´ ropes from time to time, citing security reason. As per existing provisions, there should be mutual understanding between the two countries before constructing permanent structures on the border.
Every year, there have also been scores of cases of travelers losing their fingers while operating the ´twin´ rope devices themselves. Most cases of injuries and some fatalities also have remained unreported.
There is no consolidated data on deaths related to ´twin´ ropes in the remote districts as government offices and non-governmental organizations involved in constructing the devices lack such crucial information. The government has no data even on the number of ´twin´ ropes operating across the country.
However, a tentative report from Republica correspondents shows that there were a total 40 human casualties in the last four years in the three districts of Baitadi, Darchula and Dadeldhura alone, where the accident rate is very high. Around three dozen ´twin´ ropes are being operated in those three districts.
Report of such casualties have not stopped coming from other districts also. Those losing their fingers and sustaining other injuries are beyond counting. For instance, 65 people lost their fingers in Sindhupalchowk and 90 were injured in Kalikot during the period.
Birendra Bhatta of Darchula lost two fingers while crossing the Mahakali by ´twin´ rope.
"Due to aging structures and lack of timely maintenance, the risk level is growing every year. Let alone a budget for new bridges, the government does not even provide maintenance cost for the years-old devices," said Sita Ram Karki, a local of Tanakpur in Dadeldhura district.
"Our request for bridges in this area have fallen on deaf ears. We are seeing ´twin´ rope-related accidents every week. Fatalities are inevitable in coming days also as most people in frontier VDCs of the district are compelled to use the risky means for going to the border towns of India," said Shyam Dev Joshi of Rupal VDC in Dadeldhura.
"We have no data on the exact number of ´twin´ ropes operating in the country and related human casualties as there hasn´t been any study on this," Badri Dhungel, engineer at the Suspension Bridge Division (SBD) of the Ministry of Local Development, told myrepublica.com.
Dhungel said though some ´twin´ ropes have been replaced with suspension bridges, scores of VDCs in remote districts have ´twin´ ropes as their sole means of crossing rivers due to low priority given by the government and non-governmental organizations involved in constructing suspension bridges in those areas.
"We have no national budget even for the maintenance of traditional ´twin´ ropes which are getting more hazardous every year. DDCs also have no regular budgets for maintenance of these devices," said Dhungel.
Though hundreds of suspension bridges have been constructed over four decades, thousands of people still have no alternative to using the ´twin´ ropes.
(With inputs from Bikram Giri in Mahendranagar and Barun Paneru in Dadeldhura)
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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