5 laborers, including four from the same family, were killed on Sunday when the construction of a suspension bridge connecting Moulabang and outer villages of Sunchahari Rural Municipality-3 in East Rolpa was carried out by the contractor company without technical deployment.

Chief District Officer Khim Bahadur Rayamazhi and Chairman of Sunchahari Rural Municipality Dhan Bahadur Punmagar have said that the incident should be investigated, while the victim's family has taken a stand that they will not pick up the body until they receive compensation from the contractor company. The lives of two workers who managed to escape when the mound was falling have been saved.

Like the previous day, after having dinner on Sunday morning, 80-year-old Dilman Pariyar's sons and daughters went to work. Their daily life was like this for a month as they were working on the suspension bridge being built in the village.

In the previous years, they used to go to India, Pokhara, Manang-Mustang or Kathmandu to work in the brick industry in the winter, but this year they stayed without ending after they got work in the construction of the bridge in the village. 

The construction of the bridge was going on for a month. They were working for a daily wage of 800 rupees. At around 9:50 am on Sunday morning, the pile fell inside the pit where the pillar of the bridge is placed.

45-year-old Dujman Pariyar, 31-year-old Om Pariyar, 40-year-old Suvitra Pariyar, 27-year-old Aiti Pariyar and 66-year-old Deviram Pariyar died in the incident.

Dilman has lost 4 family members in the accident, his elder daughter-in-law Suvitra, Maila's son Dujman, younger son Om and granddaughter-in-law Aiti. The mound fell during the construction of a wall in the ditch (Maulabang) to the west of the bridge dug by JCB. 

After losing 4 members of the same family, Dilman has become crazy. "It is difficult to find work in the village. Sons and daughters started working after consulting the family to do it in the village even if it is for a few days," said Deusingh Ghartimagar, a relative of the deceased, "The accident took everyone's life, Dilman had to suffer such a fate in his old age." 

The family of the deceased 66-year-old Deviram, who was living as a labourer, has also suffered. Udveer Ghartimagar, Ward President of Sunchahari-3, said that there are only two children of 7/8 years old and his wife in Deviram's house, a poor family in the slum. 'Deviram, who was in a very poor condition, used to run the house by doing small jobs, now the family is in trouble,' he said, 'social security allowance and labor were the only source of his income.' . Prakash Bisht, chief assistant inspector of the village police station, who reached the spot, said, "Due to the geographical difficulty, the economic condition of the residents of this area is still weak, and the Dalit community is in a more miserable situation because there is no land for farming." 

bridge construction site. Photo: Kantipur

The construction of a 300 meter long suspension bridge has started under the contract of 85 lakh rupees of the local infrastructure office in Butwal under the federal government. The contract has been awarded to LB Pallavi Junction JV Company.

Village chairman Dhan Bahadur Punmagar said that the accident happened due to the weakness of the contractor who built the bridge. According to him, the incident happened when the technical sage officer and contractor company who designed the bridge did not keep technicians on the site. The contractor has arrested a local youth and the driver of JCB who were in the construction site. 

The technical officer who designed the bridge does not appear to have come to the field, on the other hand, this happened because the contractor also did not have a technician. The tendering office and the technician should take all responsibility for this," he said.