Baitadi, Oct 6 : People in Tallo Sorad of Baitadi district are compelled to cross the Mahakali river by boat risking their lives. There is no bridge over the river at Tallo Sorad, hence boat is the only means of crossing the river.
The people are dependent on the Indian border town on the other side of the river for daily essential goods and for medical treatment. So they have to cross the river on boat, Mahamal Singh Saud, a local teacher, lamented, explaining the situation in Tallo Sorad.
According to him it is really scary to cross the river by boat during the rainy season. He said people cross the river by boat at more than six various places in Tallo Sorad.
Chairman of Pancheshwar rural municipality, Gorakh Bahadur Chand lamented that people are risking their life traveling across the river by boat for lack of bridge over the Mahakali river and this was their fate.
Although a contract for building a bridge was issued in 2074 BS, the work to this end has not been started as yet as India has not given its assent. Chand said the contract has now been abandoned. It is said India has refused to give its consent for the construction of the bridge citing that the structure is being constructed in the flood-prone area of Pancheshwar.
The people of Tallo Sorad have to depend on the Indian market for everything as the road linking it is dust road and inoperable during the rainy season.
Locals have complained that the government has not given any interest in constructing a bridge over the Mahakali river in their area although it has been many years they have been crossing the river by boat.
