KATHMANDU, JULY 21
Despite the adoption of a policy aimed at eliminating tuins-manually operated ropeways used for river crossings-Karnali Province still has 50 such systems functioning across its seven districts.
According to Ramesh Subedi, Senior Divisional Engineer at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development of Karnali Province, there are currently 50 traditional tuins still in use. The data was collected as part of a provincial initiative to replace these ropeways with suspension bridges for safer and more sustainable crossings.
The Ministry obtained information from seven of the province's 10 districts. Among them, Humla reported the highest number of tuins, with 15 in total-including six spanning the Karnali River.
Similarly, Kalikot and Jajarkot each reported 12, Dolpa three, and Dailekh and Mugu two each. Surkhet has eight ropeways still in operation. However, data from Salyan, Jumla, and Rukum West is yet to be received.
In line with the policy to declare Karnali a tuin-free province within the current fiscal year, the provincial government has allocated Rs 15 million towards the construction of replacement infrastructure, said Ministry spokesperson Subedi.
(With the inputs from Rastriya Samachar Samiti)
