Kalimpong villagers survive underhope of their roads getting carpete

YOWAN MOTHAY , EOI, KALIMPONG, AUGUST 1, 2022: People living in constituency nos 41 and 42 of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration which are rural areas in the Kalimpong district are surviving under the hope of the roads leading to their villages getting carpeted.

They have been assured many times that the road would be carpeted. In between, many elections have come and gone. People have complained that those elections are only for using the people as a vote bank. 

The main road of Kalijhora Panbu under constituency no. 42 rom Chuli Danda through Barbote Jarayotar to Makum Gram Panchayat Lis Khola has not yet been carpeted. 

People have travel through Kalijhora and Panbu, negotiating the rising water level of river Lis during the rainy season. 

People of the area have to use this road travel to Kalimpong, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Oodlabari, Bagrakote, Salugara. 

Due to continuous rain many parts of the road have been blocked by landslides. By the efforts of the locals, the road has been kept clear for transport. 

Jhappar Bahadur Limbu, a local resident, said that since the rains are destroying and damaging the roads, the local people are often forced to clean the road and make it useable. During the rainy season, water flows along the road due to the poor drainage system. Local people themselves have to cut the road to divert the flow of water.

As the road has not been carpeted, small vehicles cannot pass along the road. Bigger vehicles use the road, risking lives of passengers. People have demanded that measures should be taken immediately by the elected GTA representative.