A large number of locals of Rishing and Devghat Rural Municipalities still use tuins to cross the river. The district's four of the seven tuins have been replaced with suspension bridges.
TANAHUN, March 6: Even two years after the government announced to replace improvised cable crossings known as tuin with suspension bridges, the locals of Tanahun are still found crossing the Seti River precariously using tuin.
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A large number of locals of Rishing and Devghat Rural Municipalities still use tuins to cross the river. The district's four of the seven tuins have been replaced with suspension bridges.
In order to sell her agricultural produce, Tikamaya Rana, 50, of Tallo Setang of Rishing Rural Municipality-1 reaches the district headquarters Damauli twice a week. "We cannot make our ends meet if we don't sell our produce in the market. So, I visit the district headquarters twice a week to sell chilies, lettuce, beans and other vegetables," said Rana. The district headquarters Damauli is around 3-4 hours trek from Setang and she must cross the Seti River. "I can walk along steep and sloppy hills carrying heavy loads on my back but I almost lose my breath while pulling the rope of the tuin," laments Tikamaya.
As pulling the rope of the pulley alone is an arduous task, Tikamaya along with her neighbors Krishnamaya, Kulimaya and Sommaya Ale visit Damauli together. "We often visit Damauli in group as it is easier for us to pull the rope together," said Krishnamaya, adding, "The fear of falling into the river keeps haunting us until we get across the river."
As many as 150 families of Setang raise money on yearly basis for repairing the tuin. According to Kulimaya, money is collected on the basis of the income of the family. The locals of Tallo Setang, Bhalbon and Banjha of Rishing Rural Municipality-1 rely on the tuin. They have time and again urged the government to replace it with a suspension bridge.
Similarly, the locals of Khahare and Saranghat still use another tuin to connect to other places. The District Coordination Committee, Tanahun said it is planning to replace both the tuins with suspension bridges. Sub engineer Suresh Adhikari informed that a bridge is to be constructed in Khahare at the cost of Rs 7 million and a similar bridge will be built at Saranghat at the cost of Rs 9 million, according to Adhikari. "These bridges will be constructed within July," claimed Adhikari.
Caption: Locals of Rishing Rural municipality crossing Seti River in a cable crossing.
