All roads but one open in hills ...Free health check-up

TT, July 5: Light vehicles were today allowed to ply between Mirik and Siliguri for the first time since the route was shut after repeated landslides.

Also open to traffic was the NH10, the road from the plains to Kalimpong and Sikkim.

This leaves only the Damdim-Lava road, which is an alternative to NH10 blocked.

The link between Mirik and Siliguri had been severed on Wednesday after the Raptikhola bridge had broken during landslides across the hills. On Thursday, there was a landslide at Gayabari on the Mirik-Siliguri road, which made the road unusable.

U. Swaroop, the Kurseong subdivisional officer, said: "We are allowing light vehicles to move through Gayabari and also through Raptikhola bridge from today."

The decision was taken after the administration carried out temporary repairs of the road. Heavy vehicles will be allowed to move on the route after full repairs are done.

People wanting to travel between Mirik and Siliguri had to take a detour through Ghoom, reach Kurseong and take the Rohini Road to reach Siliguri.

Swaroop also said the administration was regulating the flow of heavy vehicles on Rohini Road. "Since last evening, we are allowing only light vehicles to move during daytime. Heavy vehicles are being allowed to move along the stretch between 8pm and 6am. However, there is no restriction on heavy vehicles carrying LPG and other essentials," said Swaroop.

The NH10 had been shut because of a landslide in Swetijhora, where a 150-metre stretch of the road was washed away.

The restoration of the road was a relief for people of Kalimpong and neighbouring Sikkim where prices of vegetables had shot up by 20 to 25 per cent in the market because of restricted access to goods from the plains.

In Kalimpong, the body of Ramesh Rai, 50, was found today. Police said his body was recovered from a slide spot covered in piles of mud.

TT, Siliguri, July 5: A team of doctors from Siliguri today held a free medical camp for people affected by the landslides at Tingling near Mirik.

Around 200 people attended the camp organised by junior doctors and students from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, and North Bengal Dental College and Hospital under the banner of the Medical Service Centre.

Apurba Mandal, a student at the dental college, said the team had examined 200 people at a primary school in Limbu Gaon and given them free medicines. Most of the residents of the landslide-affected area are staying at the school.