Kothiyaghat, December 21:

The pontoon bridge connecting Rajapur to Kothiyaghat of Bardiya district has been set up again and people started availing of the facility from today.

The bridge was dismantled in midsummer to protect it from being swept away by floods during the rainy season. The bridge is dismantled every summer and reassembled in the winter.

Inspector Mukund Rijal at the Rajapur area police office said a 100-man team of the Nepal Army, armed police force and civil police assembled the bridge after a 48-hour labour. “Local people and businessmen also pitched in to assemble it,” said Rijal.

The bridge connects 11 VDCs of the Rajapur area. In the absence of the bridge, Rajapur denizens have to undertake risky boat journeys to cross the river. Many persons have lost their lives in course of boat disasters in the past, said locals.

Situated in the confluence of Karnali and Geruwa Rivers, Rajapur is home to 1.5 lakh people. Sans the facility of the bridge, many sick and ailing persons who could not be taken to Guleriya and Nepalgunj on time have expired, said locals.

The period between summer and winter is most difficult for Rajapur folks, as they remain bereft of the bridge during this period. Area administration office chief Bikram Bahadur Nepali said, “There is no permanent bridge over the river, and when the river gets flooded it is difficult to go across by boat also.”