Reopening of NH10 delayed due to fresh slides and cracks

Darjeeling: Fresh slides and cracks have been reported on the National Highway 10, the lifeline connecting Sikkim with the plains of Bengal on Wednesday. This has emerged as a major damper to the plans of reopening a single lane of the NH10 for light vehicles. The NH10 has been closed for quite some time owing to landslides along the road, specially at Birikdanra and Selfydanra. Alternate routes are however open to traffic.

“The fresh slides and cracks have been reported by PWD while doing an assessment on Wednesday. Hill cutting is required in these areas. This will further delay our plan for opening single lane traffic for smaller vehicles. Work on the damaged stretches are going on” stated T Balasubramanian, District Magistrate, Kalimpong. On Tuesday an expert committee on NH10 under Superintendent Engineer, NH10, RTO, Disaster management team and police had inspected the condition of the NH10. They had earmarked some vulnerable areas also, added Kalimpong DM. "Work is going on a war footing but the rain is causing problems. Whatever preventive action needs to be taken is being taken and the district administration is keeping a close watch along with PWD" stated Balasubramanian.