Ray of hope for 'Second Sevoke bridge'

SNS, 22 June 2020, Siliguri, 22 JUNE: The long-standing demand for a secondSevoke bridge finally appears to be moving in a positive direction after union minister for road transport and highways,Nitin Gadkari, has responded to a letter sent to him by Darjeeling's BJP MP Raju Bista, where he has said that the mhistry has been looking into the matter.

People of the Dooars regon had joined hands under an organization called Dooars Forum for Social Reforms, which proposed the construction of a new bridge as an alternative to the celebrated Coronation Bridge over theTeesta river, which is the only good option for travellers from northern North Bengal wanting to go to the Dooars.

The demand was raised considering the fact that the historic old bridge. also known as the 'Baghpool among the locals, and which was built in 1937, is in a fragile state, owing to the erosion of the foundation and the pier by the water below.

As the Forum said that the bridge is in a vulnerable state and might give in any time now, it had demanded an alternative bridge connecting Sevoke Bazaar in Darjeeling district and Ellenbari on the other side of the river, and had approached Mr Bista for the same. Following this Mr Bista had written to Mr Gadkari on 28 December last year.

Mr Gadkari's letter states that a DPR (Detailed Project Report) to be prepared by the Public Works Department (PWD) of West Bengal is still under progress. Furthermore. they will also be required to secure permission from the Railways. Therefore, according to the letter, the issue has been taken up with the Ministry of Railways.

"We have also suggested to the Ministry of Railways that, if the Railways have technical difficulty in permitting us to construct the road bridge, the possibility of a rail-cum road bridge may be explored" the letter reads.

Chandan Ray. the secretary of the Forum, said they were happy that things had at least started moving ahead positively this time around. "We are hopeful, but the DPR from the state government is holding us back. Nevertheless, we will talk to tourism minister Gautam Deb in this regard soon," Mr Ray said.