Three years after floods washed away the suspension footbridge linking Kedarsyun and Thalara rural municipalities in remote hill district of Bajhang, the residents have no choice but to cross the Seti River through a rickety wooden bridge.

On Friday evening, 25-year-old Tek Giri of ward 1 of Thalara went missing in the river after falling off the makeshift bridge.

Security personnel from the Armed Police Force (APF) and the local residents searched the victim, but to no avail. According to Bhuwan Giri, Tek’s uncle, the APF team halted the search on Sunday and returned to their post.

Bhuwan suspects that the body might be found downstream, at the confluence of the Seti and Kalanga rivers. “We requested the APF officers to deploy divers in the area but they refused. They said divers cannot work in the rapids. The APF security personnel returned, asking us to inform them if we spotted the body,” said Bhuwan.

The victim’s family and relatives have vented their ire on the authorities stating that they did not work sincerely to search for the missing. The APF, however, dismissed the charge. “I reached the incident site and took stock of the situation. The river’s current is too strong, so deploying divers would be futile. The victim might have been swept away. We have urged police in Doti to help in finding the body,” said Durga Prasad Bhatta, the APF chief in Bajhang.

In lack of a proper bridge, local residents have been putting their lives in peril every day to cross the river since 2021, when a massive flood swept away the suspension footbridge linking Deura with Regam villages. In winter, they construct a makeshift bridge, which is washed away by the river during the monsoon. And the two villages remain cut off throughout the rainy season.

“There is no way to cross the river during the rainy season. The makeshift wooden crossing we install in winter is too risky because it is made of tree trunks and without handrails,” said Rabindra Joshi, chairman of ward 1 of Thalara Rural Municipality.

Deura, in Kedarsyun, is a major trade hub for locals of Bajhang, Doti and Baitadi districts. People from Sayal and Adarsha rural municipalities of Doti and Sigas Rural Municipality of Baitadi are also severely affected in lack of a proper bridge over the river. They now have to take long detours on foot to reach Deura and return home.

Local farmers are the hardest hit, as they struggle to transport their agricultural produce to the market. Traders and hoteliers in Deura also complain that their investments in hotel, trade and business are at risk.

Schoolchildren are also compelled to cross the river through the risky wooden bridge. Around 150 students from Dangaji area of Thalara Rural Municipality attend Betal Secondary School in Deura. And they must use the perilous bridge twice a day. It is not possible to reach school during the rainy season.

To address the problem, the infrastructure development project office in Dhangadhi signed a project agreement with Deepbhumi Construction in April, 2023 at Rs 15 million to construct a new suspension bridge in Deura. The contractor was supposed to complete the bridge by August, but the work is nowhere near completion.

“The construction work was halted after the contractor died a few months ago. I and the chairman of Kedarsyun Rural Municipality repeatedly urged the project office to complete the bridge construction work. But the office has not taken any initiatives,” complained Prakash Rokaya, the chairman of Thalara Rural Municipality.