Pra Zam – a horse’s nightmare

2 June 2008

About 20 minutes walk from Rangjung, one of the satellite towns in Trashigang, is a small worn out floor suspension bridge called the “Pra Zam.” It bridges the Gum-ree river and has now been in service for more than 20 years.
The suspension bridge serves 649 households in Bidung and Phongmey gewogs. It also helps the people of Merak and Sakteng trade.

“We come here twice a year to collect maize and paddy every year, exchanging them with butter, cheese and zoethey along with my horses,” said Ta Wangmo, 70, mother of four sons and two daughters from Merak.

She said that the bridge was risky for her horses to cross as some horses had been killed, falling from the bridge because of the breakage of flooring planks.

She gets 10 chang-dhey of paddy or maize for a kg of butter or cheese and 15 chang-dhey of paddy or maize for a kg of zothey.

“Once, my horse got stuck in consciencethe middle of the bridge, breaking the plank floor but luckily she didn’t fall down and was rescued at the right time with the help of other travellers, but she was injured,” said Wangdi, 30, father of two daughters from Dugurum.

He said that within a span of 10 years, he had seen 10 horses fall off the bridge. “A month back, after my horse fell, I repaired parts of the bridge,” said Karchung, 45, father of two sons and three daughters from Saling.

He said that though people had complained to the gups, the bridge, rather than being repaired, has just been neglected.
About 200 people use the bridge every day, along with two to three horses. Because of the fragility of the floorboards, only one horse can cross at a time.

A Bidungpa said if he has more loads to carry, he takes his horses but fears for them when they get to the Pra-Zam.
Kunga, the Bidung gup’s clerk, said that every year one to two horses get killed while crossing the bridge. He said that so far about 21 horses had died.

“We had changed the planks before last year and now some of the planks are rotten, which makes it difficult for the horses as their hooves cannot grip the floor well,” he added.

The Trashigang Dzongda, Dorji Norbu, said that they had tried to do steel decking but due to the old fashioned nature of the bridge it had not been possible. Moreover, the width of the bridge was too small.

“For the sake of safety, we’ve discussed it in the DYT meeting and asked the gups to change the planks immediately, as the rods and the wires are still strong,” he said.

The Dzongda said they were looking for solutions. “The people are saying that they want roads, and some say they want a new suspension bridge, but if we make a new suspension bridge and if a road is constructed, the bridge becomes a waste. So for the time being, we have told the gups to change the planks for the sake of safety,” he said.

Meanwhile, the dzongkhag authorities are looking for funding. Discussions on how to tackle the situation are still being held.
The dzongda said that even the engineers were not sure when this suspension bridge was built. Still, the horses brave on.