Chiuri Bitalu, aged 45, of Thirpu in ward 9 of Palata Rural Municipality of Kalikot district feels a deep pang when she sees a high cliff. Her 12-year-old son Binod fell off a cliff and died two years ago while collecting grass for cattle.

“I think of my son every time I see a cliff. It has given me lifelong pain and suffering. He could have been saved if he had not gone to the cliff to cut grass,” said Bitalu who is still traumatised by the tragedy that took place on 24 November 2022.

Bitalu’s sorrow is not an isolated case here. Hundreds of people in Karnali, the country's largest and the most remote province, suffer due to dangerous cliffs.

Many people die, get injured or are maimed every year by falling off the cliffs in Karnali Province. As per data available at the Karnali Province Police Office in Surkhet, as many as 440 people died by falling off cliffs in 10 districts in Karnali over the past eleven years. Salyan tops the list with 117 deaths. Police said six people died in similar incidents in the province in the first two months of the current fiscal year of 2024-25.

Besides fatalities, many people have been maimed, mainly with spinal cord injuries, after falling off cliffs. The plight of the maimed people is as painful.

It was a cold winter morning in 2023. Kapil Rana of Naumule Rural Municipality of Dailekh district suddenly heard his wife Tulsi crying in pain after falling off a cliff, where she had gone to cut grass. He rushed to find her badly injured.

Rana took his injured wife to the Surkhet-based provincial hospital for treatment. Tulsi, 25, was found to have sustained serious spinal cord injuries.

"We spent about a month in the hospital and the treatment cost around Rs300,000. But despite the treatment, Tulsi is now permanently disabled," said Rana who now helps his wife with regular physiotherapy at Birendranagar-based Shining Hospital.

Kapil’s family, reliant on agriculture, is struggling with the burden of Tulsi’s disability.

"We are a poor family dependent on agriculture. I cannot do even simple tasks now. How can we sustain our livelihood? How can we take care of our daughter?" lamented Tulsi. Their daughter is around two years old.

"The tragic incident could have been avoided had I not sent her to cut grass alone," said Kapil, filled with regret.

Shining Hospital in Birendranagar provides free physiotherapy for people with spinal cord injuries. Physiotherapist Manoj Singh said the hospital also provides food and accommodation free of cost.

Despite the ongoing treatment, Kapil is unsure if his wife will ever walk again.

Karnali police do not have actual data on the people who were injured or maimed after falling off cliffs. They started recording injuries from cliff falls from the fiscal year 2020-21, with 175 documented cases over the past five years in the province.

Police officials also said that the actual number of cliff fall deaths in the province could be higher since people tend to avoid reporting to avoid bureaucratic hassles and postmortem examinations.

The Karnali government provides Rs100,000 to spinal cord injury patients admitted to the provincial hospital. "Many people who have broken their spinal cords, legs and arms after falling from cliffs and trees visit the hospital for treatment. Most of these visitors are farmers from remote districts," said Dr Shuva Shrestha at the provincial hospital.

The number of people with physical disabilities is quite high in Karnali Province. As per the national census held in 2021, 3.1 percent of the province’s population has disabilities.

Karnali has rough and steep terrain. Around 57 percent of the total land area in the province is steep. Many people fall off cliffs while collecting grass or herding animals.