People from more than six remote villages of Darchula district are forced to cross the Mahakali river through wire bridges or Tuins and risk their lives daily.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, during his first stint as head of government in 2015, had pledged to replace all Tuin crossings in the country with suspension bridges but the residents of Darchula still have to make use of Tuins as they have no other alternative to cross the river.

People from Byas Rural Municipality use the risky wire bridge to go to Khalanga, the district headquarters of Darchula, for official works or to Indian markets to purchase daily essentials. Even the schoolchildren have to use the Tuin to attend their schools everyday.

Sangram Singh Dhami from Byas Rural Municipality-2 said, “Using the Tuin is frightening, but our other option is to walk a whole day to reach the district headquarters. People cannot afford to waste so much time.”

The residents complain that the leaders make promises to replace the Tuins time and again, but so far, there has been no construction of a bridge. Madanraj Joshi, chief of the technical section of the District Coordination Committee, said, “The construction of suspension bridge in Mahakali river is monitored by the Suspension Bridge Office in Kathmandu, so I am unaware of any new developments.”

The government had planned to construct suspension bridges at Mal, Badugaun and Battighat of Byas Rural Municipality and Banku of Malikarjun Rural Municipality along the Mahakali river.