Kathmandu, May 26 The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development has said that the government is right on the track to replace all possible and viable existing cable contraptions with suspension bridges by mid-July 2018. “The government is working to replace 155 cable contraptions in places where it is viable and necessary. Necessary budget has also been ensured for this purpose and steps to be taken to replace cable contraptions with suspension bridges are heading in the right direction as planned,” read a press statement issued by the MoFALD. Earlier, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had on October 12, 2015 announced that all existing cable contraptions would be replaced with suspension bridges within two years. According to the MoFALD, the government has been working in a planned manner to meet the target by formulating a plan of action. “Construction of three suspension bridges has already been completed and 20 more will be constructed by mid-April, 2017,” said the statement. An agreement for the construction of 11 suspension bridges has already been signed , bid for 20 others invited and the government is making final preparations to publish tender for nine suspension bridges. Similarly, the government is said to be preparing Detailed Project Report of the remaining 72 such bridges. The district development committees and district technical offices had provided the details of cable contraptions in their responsibility areas. Cable contraptions are used to cross rivers in the remote hills. The details include the name of district, location of the cable contraption, name of river or stream over which it is installed, its length, local population benefited from it, name of VDC and time taken to reach the nearest suspension bridge using it, among others. Government statistics show that there are around 350 cable contraptions throughout the country. All the cable contraptions will be gradually phased out depending on the viability and necessity, said officials. Nepal is home to more than 6,000 rivers and streams and most of them lack bridges. Many people have lost their fingers while crossing rivers using cable contraptions in the past.