-->
NH 717A yet to be restored to traffic fully

NH 717A yet to be restored to traffic fully

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, SEPTEMBER 3, 2023 : NH 717 A , which has been closed to traffic since August 12 due to a landslide, has not been fully restored to traffic till now, even after 18 days. NH 717A, which is still under construction, is a strategic road coming up to facilitate the movement of the army along the China border. 
Using bulldozers, a small pathway has been pushed through a massive rock that continues to block the road, but it is barely accessible to small vehicles. Due to the closure of the National Highway, people living in the area are also facing various problems of transportation. Tourists, too, have been inconvenienced. 
Traffic services on N.H. 717A came to a halt on the midnight of August 12 near Krishna Mandir, located in Lower Dalep under Pedong Gram Panchayat. The traffic was completely blocked due to a large rock falling in the middle of the road. Although small vehicles are currently running, army vehicles and trucks are not able to run on this route. Residents of the area have reported that after the road was closed, it has been difficult for the residents of Lingse and Lingsekha to get the supply of water to the villages. While construction work on the NH 717A continues, the transport services on the road are mostly closed at present. 
At present, employees of the construction company are working on the road, breaking the large stones using machines on a war footing and cleaning the debris. 
Founder of eco- tourism Sebastian Pradhan said on Sunday due to closure of transport services on the road there had been a lot of loss in the tourism sector in the past 18 days, especially in Reshi and Sillery Gaon. 
Owners of eco-tourism resorts that had come up along the alignment of NH 717A were worried that the closed road will affect tourism in the coming tourist season. People who lived in the area had to face a lot of problems due to the roadblock and had to travel through alternative routes. 
Pradhan said the closure of the road had affected the areas of Rhenock-Rongli in Sikkim and Linge, Lingsekha and Pitamchin in Kalimpong. Vehicles of Kalimpong District Hospital and of Sikkim Nationalised Transport too used this route regularly. 
An alternative route covering a four- km distance should be set up, he said, with the initiative of the district authorities and the National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation.

0 Response to "NH 717A yet to be restored to traffic fully"

Post a Comment

Kalimpong News is a non-profit online News of Kalimpong Press Club managed by KalimNews.
Please be decent while commenting and register yourself with your email id.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.