KATHMANDU: In order to cross the powerful Karnali River, the people of the Kharpunath Rural Municipality in the Humla region still depend on dangerous trails as of June 2024. The delay in constructing a concrete bridge has left locals with no choice but to resort to cable contraptions to traverse the river.

The Infrastructure Development Office had selected a company to construct a motorable bridge over the Karnali at Lali Bagar. However, due to the company's failure to fulfill its obligation, residents of three wards in Kharpunath are still dependent on tuins for river crossings. This situation has forced villagers to take perilous journeys across the Karnali, risking their lives due to the absence of safer alternatives.

Despite the passage of several years since the declaration to eliminate tuins from the country, made during KP Sharma Oli's tenure as Prime Minister, the reality remains unchanged. Even with Oli serving as Prime Minister for two terms, spanning from September 2015 to July 2021, the sight of people crossing rivers using tuins persists, highlighting the disparity between political rhetoric and tangible progress on the ground.