Bridge’s construction in 2009

The Nyaulighat bridge

For fear of destruction during the civil war, it was not until the end of hostilities that the construction was started. It was financed by the association alone for 35,000 euros, although a grant was requested from both the French Embassy and the European Union. This was also made possible by the largely voluntary work of the villagers: design of the bridge, tons of materials were carried by men over several days, and actual construction.

This 95m long and 70cm wide bridge was started in November 2008 and was finished at the beginning of May 2009.

Despite dangerous working conditions, there were no accidents during all this work. The bridge allows a permanent link in 2 hours from the village with the path from Giri to Lukla, whereas before monsoons swept the bamboo bridge away every year. This meant that the villagers and other travelers had to make a detour of at least 3 days’ walking to reach this path. Note also that not only villagers can borrow this bridge, but also beasts of burden. This was impossible before as the bamboo bridge could not be used by these animals.

The bamboo bridge

The project of a permanent metal bridge to replace a precarious bamboo bridge on the Dudh Kosi, was initiated in 2002 jointly by the association « Au Népal, un village, une Amitié en marche » and by the inhabitants of the BASA – RAPCHA village, who were themselves organised in an association, the « Friendly Efforts to Improve Lives Social Service ».

Inauguration of the bridge

At the inauguration in April 2009, Marc and Jacqueline BECHET recalled on behalf of the association that the construction of this bridge symbolized perfectly the bond of friendship between the village and the association.