Road to highest poll station

Residents at Srikhola assemble for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the
road on Thursday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, May 7: Mules will no longer have to carry EVMs and polling officials to the state's highest voting station at Srikhola with the public works department laying the foundation for a road to the place today, promising connectivity to one of the most difficult terrains in the hills.

The road between Sephi near Rimbick and Srikhola-Daragaon area would be 4km long.

With 793 voters, Srikhola Primary School is the highest polling station in Bengal at 9,800 feet, while Daragaon Primary School which has a voter strength of 1,120 and situated at 8,600 feet is the second highest polling station in the state.

A PWD official said: "We laid the foundation stone of a 4km road between Sephi and Srikhola today and the construction cost is Rs 11 crore. We hope the work will be completed in nine months. The funds have been sanctioned by the Centre."

Till the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, polling officials had to travel for 103km on a vehicle from Darjeeling to reach Sephi and trek for 7km to reach Srikhola Primary School. Daragaon Primary School is an eight-hour-long trek after the 103km drive.

Mules are used to carry polling materials like EVMs to both the stations that have been classified as "P minus Two" where poll officials have to leave for their destinations two days before the voting day.

For other polling stations, officials have to leave a day before the votes.

There are 16 "P-2" polling stations across the hills. Among them, Srikhola and Daragaon are in Darjeeling subdivision, while the remaining 14 are in Kalimpong subdivision.

Prakash Gurung, the elected GTA Sabha member from Rimbick constituency, today said: "The road will come as a huge relief for the nearly 3,000 people of the region. Villagers had to shell out Rs 1.20 to ferry one kg of potato or ration between Srikhola-Daragaon area and Rimbick, which is the nearest motorable area. Patients from the villages are still carried on mules to Rimbick. Many die while being transported."

Srikhola-Daragaon region is known for potato cultivation. The 7km trek to Srikhola takes more than an hour even for the villagers. Students who go to schools in Rimbick have to walk every day.

"The road has been a long standing demand of the people of the region. Till today, they have to ferry ration either as head loads or on mules from Rimbick," said Gurung.

A mule normally carries about 50kg at a time.