Where life hangs on a rope

KOHALPUR, July 18: Residents of four VDCs are cut off from the rest of the district by the Bheri River in Dang are compelled to rely on precarious tuins (hand-pulled wire bridge) to cross the river as all other means of land and water transportation come to a grinding halt in the face of the monsoon every year.



Thousands of people from Lekhpharsha, Gumi, Dashrathpur and Neta VDCs are affected as Chhinchu-Lekhpharsa-Gulmi road and the Surkhet-Bhedabari road section that link the region to the rest of country is disrupted, and boats too cannot be operated in the raging river. [break]



Even a ferry service that used to give some respite to the locals during the monsoon remains non-operational for the last seven years.

Everyday scores of people from the region take the tuin ride to reach the district headquarters Birendranagar, and other major urban centers such as Nepalgunj and Chinchu bazaar, informed Bhim Prasad Acharya of Lekhpharsa VDC-6.



"We don´t have a choice," says he. "I pray to God for my safety every time I start pulling the connecting rope."



Its not that the folks from Lekhpharsa do not have a choice at all. Not too far away, there is a suspension bridge over the local Khahare River that connects Ramghat and Jahara. But, the locals say, crossing the raging river through the suspension bridge is even more risky and unnerving.

To make the matter worse, a tuin can carry just four people at a time.



As it is also used to transport goods to these villages, one can hardly imagine the agonizing wait the locals have been subjected to-- not to mention the traumatic experience they pass through while crossing the flooding river.

"Crossing the river during rainy season is a tormenting experience. The fear gets worst when you are in the middle of the river," said Devi Acharya of Lekhpharsa VDC-6.



Krishna Rai of Lekhpharsa VDC-7, adds: "There haven´t been any serious accident so far, but many locals have hurt their hands and suffered other minor injuries while pulling the tuin across the river."



Though they have to pay rupees ten for each ride on the tuin, the decade-old wire bridge has not been repaired and maintained properly, the locals complain.



Moreover, the tuin is operated only during the day, and the villagers are virtually cost off from hospital and other important facilities in case of emergency at night.



Tek Bahadur Bote, a tuin operator, informed that around 60 people take the tuin ride every day.

"We understand the locals have been demanding a concrete bridge, but the concerned authorities are apparently turning a deaf ear," Bote adds.

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