Rs 4cr for repair of slide-hit road - PWD to reconstruct NH55 at Paglajhora

The damaged stretch of NH55 at Paglajhora. File picture

TT, Siliguri, 21 November 2013: The state department of disaster management has sanctioned around Rs 4.2 crore for the temporary repair of a 100-metre stretch of the landslide-affected section of NH55 at Paglajhora.

A 500-metre stretch of the highway that links Siliguri to Darjeeling had been washed away in a landslide at Paglajhora on June 16, 2010. Although the section had been reopened for traffic last year after temporary repair, a 100m portion collapsed again in May this year.

Nirmal Mondal, the executive engineer (NH division IX) of the state public works department, said the temporary reconstruction of the stretch at Paglajhora had been carried out with funds from the Union ministry of road transport.

“A few months back, we had sent a proposal to the state department of disaster management for funds to repair the 100m stretch. Earlier this month, the department had agreed to sanction Rs 4.2 crore for the temporary repairs and the tendering process will soon begin,” said Mondal.

Paglajhora is 35km from Siliguri and another landslide damaged the road at Tindharia, 5km down, on September 28, 2011. Both the damaged stretches are in the Siliguri-Kurseong section of NH55 and traffic has been suspended on this route since June 2010.

Currently, both light and heavy vehicles travelling between Siliguri and Darjeeling take the Rohini and Pankhabari routes.

“When the road at Paglajhora had been temporarily repaired, light vehicles could reach places like Gayabari and Chunabhatti that lie along the highway. But the stretch is completely unused since 100m of the road collapsed in May,” said Mondal.

People now use shortcuts via Gayabari and Giddapahar to bypass the two landslide-affected stretches.

With regard to the permanent repair of the Paglajhora stretch, Mondal said the PWD was in the process of preparing a detailed project report that would be presented before the Union ministry of road transport and highways.

“We need to engage technical consultants and experts to prepare the detailed project report for permanent repair. The slope at that stretch needs stabilisation in order to make it durable and resistant to landslides,” he said.

The Union ministry of road transport and highways had sanctioned Rs 83 crore in March for repairing the NH55 stretch at Tindharia.

“The detailed exploration of the site at Tindharia is complete and now the design will be prepared to reconstruct the damaged road,” said Mondal.