Traffic along damaged stretch of NH10 resumes, bridge repair starts

The resumption of road connectivity has come as a major relief for the business community in the hills as well as for tourists and tourism stakeholders

Vehicles move through Birick Dara on NH10 after the stretch reopened on Tuesday afternoon.

Passang Yolmo

TT Correspondent   |   Siliguri   |   27.10.21: Traffic along the damaged stretch of NH10, which links Sikkim and Bengal’s Kalimpong district with the rest of the country, resumed on Tuesday afternoon after a gap of six days.

Since August 20, vehicular movement had come to a halt along the route as a part of the road had caved in at Birick Dara, located around 30km  from here, after an extremely heavy downpour in the hills.

The incident had prompted the state PWD (NH-X division) to engage earthmovers. Rocks along the stretch, around 80 feet, had to be cut to create space vehicles to ply. Altogether, a stretch of around 300 feet has been rebuilt in the past few days, PWD sources said.

“We have managed to restore the connectivity of NH 10 along Birick Dara. Both heavy and light vehicles started plying from around 4.30pm on Tuesday,” S. Chhetri, the executive engineer of NH-X division of the state PWD said.

The resumption of road connectivity has come as a major relief for the business community in the hills as well as for tourists and  tourism stakeholders. During the past one week, all vehicles bound for Sikkim and Kalimpong from Siliguri and vice-versa, were taking detours on narrow roads.

Repairs also started on the Balason river bridge on NH31  on Tuesday.

On October 19, a pillar of the bridge had tilted, prompting the police to stop traffic, barring two -wheelers. “Repairs have commenced from today and by November 8, components of the Bailey bridge, which would be installed in the damaged stretch, will reach here from Calcutta. We expect the Bailey bridge to be ready in a month’s time,” said an official of state PWD.

In Kurseong, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee attended a review meeting of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, she also expressed concern over road conditions.

“We have found a number of hilly roads are in a bad state. This is because a section of contractors use white pebbles instead of black ones and within a year, the top layer of the road peels off. This has to stop. Officials  should pay surprise visits to ensure proper quality...,”said Mamata.

A senior official of state PWD, who attended the meeting, said he would look into the issue and will also hold talks with engineers of his department.

He also spoke on the widening of a 13km stretch of NH31 between Balason bridge in the northwest and Sevoke in the northeast of Siliguri and said the state has cleared the decks from its end.

“We have cleared everything from our end. The NHAI will fund the project and we are waiting for their approval,” the official said.

(https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/nh10-reopens-bridge-repair-starts/cid/1836071)