The topography of Nepal is very harsh and diverse. Up to 80% of land includes hills and
mountains and countless streams and rivers flowing through such landscape make great
obstacles to smooth and proper movement of the people. Waiting at the riverbank for the
river to subside or traversing arduous uphill and downhill detours cause much waste of time
and energy. Harsh terrain of the hilly areas is
one of the major constraints in the delivery of
basic services, market, education, health, employment, etc. and in all aspects of
developmental work in the country. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. One of the major causes of poverty is lack
of access to the basic services. Improving access and mobility of the isolated poor people to
markets, services and opportunities is one of the major challenges of Nepal because of the
difficult topography where most of the access related projects and programs are concentrated
and directed towards expensive physical infrastructure such as building roads, bridges. Ropeway technology has been in use in Nepal for quite a long time, but no significant
development in its modification and application has been observed so far. Over the past years
technological improvements in these kinds of systems worldwide has resulted in the more
advancements in uphill and downhill detours and river crossings. Unfortunately, Nepal has
not benefited from these technological improvements until now. So, by applying those
technologies in our national context, Mechanized Bridge targets Nepalese technicians and
skilled manpower with their expertise to develop a local technology using excess day time
electricity for its operation. It connects local people living in a remote village to traders on
the other side where there is road access, education, health and employment. GRID Nepal
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Kotre-Punditar Mechanized Bridge, Kotre-Punditar, Tanahun 4
realized that investment in appropriate transport interventions can make a real impact on
lives and livelihoods of poor people by improving the access to markets and other basic
services thereby reducing drudgery, time and cost spent by men, women and children on
transportation.
