Inhabitants from the Dhaing village in Nepal have no choice but to face danger on a daily basis. They are forced to endure a hazardous river crossing by rope bridge to attend school, go shopping or meet friends and family who live the other side of the Trishuli River.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Why is Nepal’s Trishuli River well-known?
2 How many of these bridges are there in Nepal?
3 Why don't people use permanent bridges?
4 What happened in 2010?
5 Which plan has the Prime Minister announced?
Could this be the most extreme school run in the world? The rapidly flowing waters of Nepal’s Trishuli River might be well known to (1) adventure sports enthusiasts, but these residents of the Benighat district take their lives in their hands often several times a day using hand-operated cable crossings to reach the other side.
(2) There are almost a dozen of these crossing in the area and many more throughout Nepal, which villagers use to reach shops, visit relatives and friends, or simply to go to school.
(3) There are few permanent bridges on the river and they are many miles apart, forcing the locals to use these more direct if less safe routes.
In recent years, accidents have increased demand for foot bridges to be built in the area. (4) In 2010, 5 people died falling into the water when a cable snapped, and many others have suffered injuries, including losing fingers.
Recently, Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Oli announced a plan to (5) replace the cable crossings with 366 suspension bridges over the next 2 years, and in January 2016 the first of these bridges connecting the villages of Manthali and Gimdi over the Baghmati River was opened.
As the rest of the bridges are built, it could mean the end for the cable crossings. But for now, they remain the only direct route for thousands of people living in remote areas.
