Ten years after the federal government announced to replace perilous improvised river cable crossings locally known as 'tuins’ with suspension footbridges, people in Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces continue to risk their lives dangling from cables.

The promise was first made in 2015 during the first stint of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who pledged to replace all tuins with suspension bridges within two years. A decade later, the reality on the ground remains grim: dozens of settlements across Darchula, Jajarkot, Humla, Salyan among other districts are still forced to rely on these hazardous crossings.

In Darchula, the recent tragedy in which Narayan Singh Budhathoki, 28, went missing after falling from a tuin into the Mahakali river has reignited public outrage. Budhathoki, a resident of Dumling in Byas Rural Municipality-2, fell into the river on July 14 after a support pole on the Indian side broke as he was heading to the district headquarters to buy essentials.

Budhathoki’s case is far from isolated. As many as 23 people from Ward 2 of Byas Rural Municipality alone plunged into the Mahakali river and died over the last three decades while crossing on tuins. The residents of Byas-2 have no alternative to crossing the river on tuins to reach the district headquarters Khalanga through the Indian territory . There is no road and even foot trail on the Nepali side.

The government's 2015 declaration promised an end to such tragedies. Yet, areas like Syaku and Naji in Byas-5 and Dumling in Byas-2, along with parts of Humla, Salyan and Jajarkot districts, continue to rely on tuins, particularly during the monsoon season when rivers swell and alternative routes become impassable. The trek to the nearest suspension bridge takes two to three hours, prompting locals to gamble with their lives by using tuins that are often held together by fragile ropes and rusted wires.

“There is at least one fatality every year from tuin accidents in our area,” said Dhiran Singh Budhathoki, ward chairman of Byas-2. “We advise people not to use them, but without roads or bridges, they have no choice.”

Records show that 20 of the total 23 deaths since 1993 were from the Dumling area alone. The deadly roll call includes men, women and children, such as Jay Singh Budhathoki, who fell and died in 2021. “Suspension footbridges should be immediately built in Dumling, Syaku and Budi,” said Bir Singh Dhami, ward chairman of Byas-5.

Despite some progress—four suspension bridges have been built at Badugaun, Tigram, Malghatte and Mal in recent years—many areas remain unconnected. The government’s slow pace in road expansion further exacerbates the problem.

The much-touted Darchula-Tinker road, being built by the Nepal Army, has opened a track up to Malgaun, still three hours on foot from Dumling.

“People don’t die because of bridges; they die because they don’t have roads,” argued Byas Rural Municipality Vice-chairman Binod Singh Kunwar. “A handful of bridges won’t solve the problem if access roads aren’t there.”

The federal government allocated merely Rs10 million for the Darchula-Tinker road in the current fiscal year 2025-26. “How much work will be completed with that meagre budget?” he questioned.

Cross-border mobility complicates matters further. Tuins often link Nepal-India border points. This, local officials argue, presents both a security and sovereignty issue.

“We have repeatedly urged locals not to use illegal tuins over the international boundary,” said Anil Paudel, the Darchula chief district officer. “But surveillance is difficult and people continue to cross, hoodwinking security personnel.”

The crisis isn’t limited to Darchula. In Jajarkot’s Suwanauli village under Chhedagad Municipality-6, Bhadra Bahadur Khadka, a local aged 53, must cross the Majkot river daily via tuin to reach a cooperative office he works in.

“We cannot wade across the river. So we are forced to use tuin to get to the other side,” said Khadka.

Students like Roman BK in Chhedagad undertake similar risks to attend college, using tuin crossings to avoid long detours that would take impracticably long hours. Over the past three years, two people have died and multiple others have been injured in Majkot's tuin accidents.

In Humla, residents of Ripgaun village in Sarkegad Rural Municipality-2 depend on tuins over the Karnali for food supplies and essential services. “Every day, around 30 locals, even elected officials, cross the river via tuin because there is no bridge,” said local resident Maniraj Budha. The locals from Loti and Nepka in Chankheli Rural Municipality-4 also have to use tuins.

Reports from the Karnali Province Police Office show that in the last five years, eight people died and 23 were injured in tuin accidents across the province.

Salyan district has a similar tale. Residents of Kunik village in Bangad Kupinde Municipality use tyre tubes in the dry season and tuins during monsoon to cross the Bheri river. The absence of proper infrastructure has forced entire families to migrate seasonally or move temporarily just to access basic services.

“We collected money to build a tuin after the suspension bridge was washed away,” said Dilli Gharti, a local, adding that official promises of replacement remain unfulfilled.

A lack of coordinated data has made matters worse. No government agency has a complete record of how many tuins still exist in Karnali and Sudurpaschim. The Karnali provincial government announced plans to make the province tuin-free within the current fiscal year, yet progress remains negligible.

According to Ramesh Subedi, spokesperson for the Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development Ministry of Karnali, 52 requests for suspension bridges have been formally submitted this year.

“The demand is huge, but the budget is limited,” Subedi admits. “It costs at least Rs3 million to build a single suspension bridge, but the province has allocated only Rs15 million—enough for just five projects,” he added.

The government's ambitious policy of eliminating tuins now appears increasingly hollow as preventable deaths pile up year after year. For communities in remote villages of Darchula, Jajarkot, Humla and Salyan, the promise of safe, dignified travel remains painfully out of reach.