Call for CM trip via slide-hit road - People want Mamata to see NH55 damage at Tindharia and their travel woes

The damaged portion of NH55 at Tindharia on Sunday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

TT, Siliguri, Jan. 18: Residents of Tindharia and Gayabari along NH55 have demanded that Mamata Banerjee travel by the highway when she visits Darjeeling this week to know the difficulties that local people face because of the closure of the road at Tindharia following a landslide in September 2011.

Today, around 500 residents of Tindharia and Gayabari took out a rally under the banner of the People's Welfare Society of Tindharia, an apolitical welfare organisation, and held a meeting to protest against the delay in the restoration of the highway.

"It has been three-and-a-half years since a landslide damaged a huge portion of the highway at Tindharia. However, the state public works department has not started the repair and the people of Tindharia and Gayabari are facing a lot of inconveniences. We have approached the PWD officials a number of times and have received only assurances. The chief minister is visiting north Bengal on a five-day trip starting tomorrow and according to our information, she will also go to Darjeeling," said Binay Chettri, the secretary of the organisation.

"We demand that this time, she travel to Darjeeling via NH55 rather than taking Rohini or Mirik routes to see for herself the difficulties the people are facing because of the closure of the highway at Tindharia," he added.

The NH55, also called Hill Card Road, connects Siliguri with Darjeeling, 78km away. Tindharia is 30km from Siliguri and Gayabari further 4km uphill. Kurseong is 20km uphill from Tindharia.

Around 150 metres of NH55 had been washed away in the landslide at Tindharia in September 2011. The Union ministry of road transport and highways had sanctioned Rs 83 crore in March 2013 for the repair at Tindharia. Although a Calcutta-based construction firm secured the tender for restoration in June that year, the repair is yet to start.

Sources in the PWD said the Union ministry of road transport and highways had terminated the tender awarded to the Calcutta-based firm.

"There were some technical problems regarding the topography and designs of restoration of the highway at Tindharia with the Calcutta-based firm and the Union ministry has terminated its tender. A consultancy agency has been hired to re-survey the site and prepare a new plan for the reconstruction. Tenders will be invited anew as soon as the agency completes its work," said a PWD official.

Chettri said the breach in the highway caused problems during medical emergencies and hampered business and traffic.

"Ever since the landslide at Tindharia, we have been using a shortcut route to reach Siliguri but that road is narrow, steep and is in a dilapidated condition. We face a lot of problems especially during medical emergencies when patients have to be rushed to hospitals in Siliguri. People along the highway earned a livelihood through hotels for tourists and drivers of heavy vehicles. Now the hotel owners have been rendered jobless as few vehicles ply on this route," said Chettri.

He added that the general public of the locality was inconvenienced because heavy vehicles carrying food and construction materials from Siliguri had to come via Rohini, which increases the travel distance by 20km. Daily commuters and college students in Siliguri are also facing difficulties, he said.

"If the reconstruction of the road continues to be delayed, we will start an intensive agitation, including hunger-strikes and blockades on Rohini Road, which is the preferred alternative route of vehicles travelling from Siliguri to Darjeeling," he added.