Landslides continue to block NH 10, tourists stranded in Sikkim

SANJAY AGARWAL, SUJAL PRADHAN, EOI, GANGTOK, OCT 9, 2022: Landslides triggered by heavy rains played havoc with road connectivity in parts of Sikkim on Sunday, blocking roads,snapping the road connection between Sikkim and West Bengal and leaving tourists stranded. With the weather office in Kolkata predicting heavy rains in north Bengal in the coming three days, the prospects are grim.

Following heavy rains on Saturday evening, the arterial National Highway 10 was blocked due to huge landslide near Singtam at 7 p.m., bringing the movement of vehicles to a complete halt. According to senior officials, huge boulders jammed National Highway 10 at two places, 19 Mile and 20 Mile, between Singtam and Rangpo. After more rains later in the night, the road leading to Gangtok from Singtam was also blocked at 32 Mile. After about 20 hours of total suspension in traffic movement, N.H.10 was opened to one-way traffic. But the movement of heavy traffic continuned to be suspended througout the day on Sunday.

"It may take an entire day to clear the debris and reopen the way for traffic," the official said. "Those travelling to Siliguri have been asked to use roads that go via Central Pendam or Pakyong to get to the West Bengal border." Falling debris hampered the work of road restoration.

Vehicles were forced to take the alternative route Rangpo - Duga -Pendam - Singtam. Some vehicles also completed the journey to their destinations via the Rangpo - Kumrek- Rorathang - Pakyong route, but here again due to a damaged portion of the road at 4th Mile, drivers had to face amajor problem. They were stranded in traffic jams for hours. Till the filing of this report, the traffic snarl continued. The worst affected stretch at 20 Mile had recently been repaird, but now it had got damaged again, according to officials engaged in the clearance of road of the accmulated rubble due to the landslides. Being the last day of the Puja holidays, tourists were anxious to return and there was a serious shortage of vehicles to transport them. Some of the passengers said they had been compelled to pay even double the fare to reach their destinations. 

Due to the downpour,roads in other parts of Sikkim were also damaged. The Roads and Bridges Department has issued a warning, asking people not to travel unless it was absolutely necessary as the uninterrupted rains had loosened rocks and cliffs, leaving them susceptible to landslides. The Gan tok district authorities have released information on the prevailing road conditions on N.H. 10, with the possibility of more rains for some more time. At Nimtar and 14th Mile, the road was motorable one way,at Chisopani Tunnel, on the Rangpo end, motorable one way due fallen trees on the carriageway, one way traffic at Bhanu Turning and near the hospital in Singtam. 

The road was blocked at 19th Mile due to falling boulders and at 20th Mile due to heavy slush and boulders. JCBs were there at both the sites. Meanwhile, the weather office predicted heavy to very heavy rains in north Bengal till Wednesday, with the possibility of landslides in Darjeeling and Kalimpong, besides the north Bengal districts of Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and North Dinajpur. Water levels could rise in the rivers of the region.