Protest on bad roads in Sikkim .... Rose Valley office raided in Geyzing

TT, Gangtok, May 12: Stakeholders of the tourism industry and local people took out a rally here yesterday to protest the alleged delay in repairing the North Sikkim Highway and JN Marg, the main roads in the district.

More than 100 protesters marched from Tashi View Point to the office of Project Swastik chief engineer S.S. Porwal. “I have written to the head office (of Swastik) in New Delhi. Nothing can be done unless funds are released. I am leaving for Delhi tomorrow and will place the matter before the higher authorities,” he said.

The Border Roads Organisation maintains the two roads and Project Swastik under the BRO is the agency that looks after the repairs.

Sources said widening of the highway from Gangtok to Mangan (56km) is incomplete even after eight years and most tourists avoid the stretch. They use the Pangthang-Tumin route to reach Mangan and return. For this, eateries and shops along the Gangtok-Mangan route are facing losses.

JN Marg that leads to Nathu-la, Baba Mandir and Chhangu is often shut because of landslides. Officials said unavailability of labour is another hurdle.

Rose Valley office raided in Geyzing

NIRMAL MANGAR, TT, Gangtok, May 12: The Sikkim police raided the west district office of Rose Valley, a money mobilising company, in Geyzing bazaar on Friday evening and seized the company’s documents. 

“We have seized important documents of the company to gather more information on the depositors, agents and the total money involved in the business,” said a senior police official. The Sikkim Protection of Interests of Depositors Act prohibits companies from collecting money from the public. 

The Act was passed in the Sikkim Assembly in 2010 after fraudulent financial institutions had duped Sikkim investors of crores of rupees after promising high returns. West district magistrate L.P. Tewari had issued the search warrant on a request made by the police. 

Last week, the police had raided Rose Valley’s office in Gangtok suspecting the alleged involvement of the company in a money collection racket. The company, set up in 2008, also has an office at Namchi in south Sikkim.