The 90-meter-long suspension bridge built over the Tarekot River connecting the villages of Balaudi and Nyuna has eliminated the risk that has plagued them for years.
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Two villages of Saipal Rural Municipality-5 are connected by a suspension bridge. The suspension bridge was built on the Tarekot River between Balaudi and Newna villages.
Due to the lack of a bridge, physical contact between these two villages used to be severed during the rainy season. ‘During the rainy season, the two villages could not be contacted as the river could not be crossed,’ said Umesh Bohara of Newna, ‘We had to go down the steep path for about half an hour and then uphill for half an hour.’
The 90-meter-long bridge was built with the help of the non-governmental organization Kaduri Agricultural Aid Association and British Gorkhas Nepal. Inaugurating the bridge, which has been in use since Monday, Saipal Rural Municipality Vice-Chairwoman Dolma Tamang said that locals who have been using the risky road for years will now be able to travel safely.
‘It was a very dangerous road to go from one village to another, and people had to worry about whether they would return or not.’ Now the routine of these two villages is risk-free,’ she said, ‘Even with the bridge, the road has become easier and safer.’ Now continuous communication, education, health, agriculture and business activities between the two villages will also increase.’ She said that students, women, senior citizens and patients have been greatly relieved as the problem of having to cross the river at risk during the rainy season has been eliminated.
The ward office of these two villages, which are in the same ward, is in Nyuna village. The locals of Balaudi had to reach Nyuna to get facilities like recommendations from the ward office, incident registration, and real estate transactions, so they were facing a lot of problems due to the lack of a bridge. ‘After the construction of this bridge, Balaudi village has become more convenient than Nyuna,’ said Bamma Bohara, a local of Balaudi. ‘It used to be that elderly people who receive social security allowance had to be carried on a narrow and slippery path on the cliff during the rainy season, and when the river was high, they could not even bring the ward recommendation.’ He said that after the bridge was built, Balaudi residents were also freed from the problem of having to cross the same river and walk on a dangerous path on the cliff to go to Yarangkuring Danda, where the polling station of Ward 5 is located.’
After the construction of this bridge, the locals of Balaudi have been able to travel not only to Balaudi but also to Dhuli Gaun in Ward 4. ‘People from Dhuli, Nyuna and Balaudi villages have marital relations. Due to the poor road conditions, it was difficult to meet when a relative fell ill,’ he said. ‘Now that the bridge has been built, social, economic and cultural relations and access between villages have become easier.’
The bridge, whose construction began in 2002 Magh at a cost of Rs 16.783 crore, was completed in four months, informed Narayan Gurung, Technical Director of Kaduri Agricultural Aid Association. Informing that the bridge was built with the personal support of a Hong Kong business family, he said that 100 kilowatt electricity is also being built in Dhuli, the last human settlement in the northern part of Bajhang, located in Saipal Rural Municipality. ‘The Kaduri family has been helping to make the lives of the residents of remote areas easier for a long time. As part of that, we have built a bridge and electricity in Saipal,’ he said. He said that the Kaduri family is also helping in the construction of a bridge and drinking water supply in Mashta Rural Municipality of Bajhang.
