NH55 nod for trucks

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 21: Trucks will be allowed to ply along NH55 from tomorrow after a gap of six years.

From 6am to 6pm, trucks with a load of not more than six tonnes each will be allowed to take the highway where movement of vehicles was partially halted from June 2010 and completely stopped after a landslide swept away the highway and the adjoining railway track at Tindaria on September 28, 2011.

After the closure of Rohini Road on July 26 this year, the truck drivers decided to take NH55 through a 10-meter stretch that the railway had constructed for toy trains from August 16.

However, the railways stopped movement of vehicles from the next day fearing that it would weaken the stretch.

Members of the Darjeeling Truck Drivers' Association and the local people refused to budge from their stand and more than 100 trucks are currently parked along the highway.