A truss bridge over the Syamne river, which has been rendered useless after the river changed its course five months ago, is yet to be reconstructed, affecting hundreds of people in villages located in the eastern side of the district headquarters Simikot.

“The water level in the river rises during monsoon, making us unable to cross. We need a bridge at the earliest” Local people, meanwhile, have laid a plank over the river for a temporary use. They said that they are likely to find it hard to cross the river during the monsoon season. “The water level in the river rises during monsoon, making us unable to cross. We need a bridge at the earliest,” said Satya Mahat, a local resident. Besides, the floods swept away five houses and partially destroyed three others and also damaged local Janajyoti Primary School. “We struggled hard to build the bridge but it has been swept away now,” said local Dana Mahat. Local Puntu Mahat said they are approaching the District Development Committee and various other organisations seeking help to reconstruct the bridge .

Officials at the CARE-Nepal and the Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre said they will construct a temporary wooden bridge and an embankment by putting gabion boxes in the river to prevent erosion. “We will construct these structures soon,” District Coordinator of the Centre Raj Bahadur Rokaya said, adding that around Rs 700,000 is needed for the construction work.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen villages in VDCs such as Muchu, Chhipra, Lali, Srimantha, Thehe and Limi are at the high risk of avalanches. Five houses in the area were swept by avalanches last year while three people of a family died when they were buried this year.

The avalanche has also posed a threat to the Thupten Renjiling Monastery, which dates back to 11th century, at Limi and Hilsa settlements at Sima. Local people accused the government and non-government organisations of being apathetic towards resolving the problem.

The NGOs said that preparations are under way to initiate a project to prevent avalanches in the VDCs and provide rescue equipment and training.

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